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THE 

REAL  LINCOLN 


FROM  THE  TESTIMONY  OF  HIS 
CONTEMPORARIES 


BY 
CHARLES  L.  C.  MINOR,  M.  A.,  LL.  D. 


Fourth  Edition,  Revised  and  Enlarged 
(Edited  by  M.  D.  Carter) 


(§) 


Gastonia,  N.  C. 
ATKINS-RANKIN  COMPANY 

1928 


Copyright,  1904 
by  Everett  Waddey  Company 


Copyright,  1928 
by  Atkins-Eankin  Co. 


MANUFACTURED  COMPLETE  BY  THE 

KINGSPORT   PRESS 

KINGSPORT,     TENNESSEE 

United    States    of  America 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

Publisher's   Note v 

Introduction  by  the  Editors vii 

Sketch  of  the  Author ix 

Preface xi 

I    Apotheosis  of  Lincoln 1 

II    What  This  Book  Would  Teach     ...  13 

III  Was  Lincoln  Heroic? 15 

IV  Was  Lincoln  a  Christian? 26 

V    Lincoln's  Jokes  and  Stories     ....  31 

VI     Estimates  of  Lincoln 35 

VII     Did  Lincoln  Ever  Intend  that  the  Mas- 
ters Be  Paid  for  Their  Slaves?     .      .  44 
VIII     Opposition  to  Abolition  Before  the  War  48 
IX     Secession    Long    Threatened.      Coercion 

Never  Seriously  Thought  of  till  1861  61 

X     Change  of  the  Issue — Star  of  the  West  78 

XI    Kesistance  in  Congress 83 

;::    XII     Opposition  in  the  Regular  Army  ...  87 

^  XIII     Opposition  in  the  Volunteer  Army  .      .  91 
'^  XIV     Opposition  to  the  Emancipation  Procla- 

^                 mation 97 

,/^^^    In  What  Proportion  Divided     ....  103 

XVI     Attitude  of  England 112 

XVII    Despotism  Conceded 117 


IV 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

XVIII     Outline  of  the  Despotism    ....  127 
XIX     General  Opposition  and  Resistance  to 

Coercion  and  Emancipation     .     .     .  133 

XX     Despotism  in  Maryland 145 

XXI     Despotism  in  Kentucky 156 

XXII     Despotism  in  Indiana 160 

XXIII  Attitude  of  Ohio  and  Illinois     .      .      .  169 

XXIV  Attitude    of    Pennsylvania    and    New 

York 176 

XXV    Attitude  of  Iowa  and  Other  States     .  185 

XXVI    Purpose  of  Emancipation 193 

XXVII     Opposition  to  Lincoln's  Re-Election   .  203 

XXVIII     How  Lincoln  Got  Himself  Re-Elected    208 

Appendix 223 


PUBLISHER'S  NOTE 

*' History  is  bunk"  says  Henry  Ford.  Had  he  qualified 
this  statement  with  *'as  it  is  written,"  his  assertion  would 
have  been  more  readily  accepted  by  the  reading  public. 
Unfortunately,  history — which  is  merely  the  recorded  lives 
and  acts  of  the  individuals  comprising  the  citizenry  of  any 
given  unit  of  government — has  been  unreliable,  as  a  gen- 
eral thing,  because  past  historians,  many  of  them,  could 
not  rise  above  or  go  beyond  their  likes,  dislikes,  pleasures 
or  disaffections.  They  were  not  content  with  presenting 
the  actual  truth.  The  historian  felt  it  his  duty  to  chronicle 
the  good;  or,  if  mentioning  the  evil,  to  gloss  it  or  explain 
it  away.  Frequently  he  went  so  far  as  to  invent  pretty 
stories  that  served  to  bolster  up  a  tottering  hero. 

Recently  there  has  been  a  decided  change.  Biography 
— the  handmaiden  of  history — as  written  in  America  and 
published  by  American  firms  for  American  readers  has 
become  the  antithesis  of  biography  as  heretofore  uni- 
versally written.  There  has  been  an  about-face  from  the 
heights  to  the  depths,  from  apotheosis  to  demonification, 
from  the  sublime  to  the  ridiculous,  from  one  extreme  of 
untruth  to  the  other.  The  present  vogue  *' inters  the  good" 
and  then,  with  hammer  and  tongs,  tears  down  the  idol  and 
leaves  the  reader  the  shattered  remnant  of  a  once-glorious 
figure.  Each  of  these  types  of  biography  has  its  ardent 
proponents  as  well  as  its  no  less  dogmatic  opponents. 

However,  there  is  one  noteworthy  sign  of  the  times.  The 
present  generation  of  readers  is  eager  for  biography.  This 
is  amply  proven  by  the  avidity  with  which  each  new  volume 
of  this  character  is  appropriated  and  by  the  vast  and  ever 


vi  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

increasing  number  of  such  books  coming  regularly  from 
the  press.  The  record  of  the  lives  and  achievements  of 
real  flesh-and-blood  is  more  interesting  than  imaginary 
fairies.  Truth  is  ever  stranger  than  fiction.  Such  study, 
moreover,  is  instructive,  enlightening,  provocative  of 
thought.    Hence  this  eagerness  is  a  good  sign. 

The  publishers  of  this  fourth  edition  of  ''The  Real 
Lincoln ' '  have  the  firm  conviction  that  it  is  built  on  neither 
of  these  extremes  but  ploughs  a  straight  furrow  through 
the  truth.  It  is  their  belief  that  a  careful  reading  of  this 
book  in  North  and  South  alike  will  serve  to  establish  in  the 
mind  of  America  a  truer  knowledge  and  a  clearer  under- 
standing of  the  real  Lincoln  that  occupied  the  most  im- 
portant position  in  the  government  of  the  United  States 
at  one  of  her  most  crucial  periods. 

With  the  exception  of  a  few  minor  corrections  and  the 
inclusion  of  two  articles  in  the  appendix  this  book  is  iden- 
tical with  the  second  edition  published  shortly  after  the 
author's  death. 

THE  PUBLISHERS 
Gastonia,  N.  C,  Jan.  1,  1928 


INTRODUCTION  BY  THE  EDITORS 

The  manuscript  of  this  volume  was  completed  by  Dr. 
Minor  only  a  few  days  before  his  death.  After  the  issue 
of  the  first  edition,  in  1901,  he  began  this,  thinking  that 
a  second  edition  would  be  needed.  When  the  call  for  a 
second  edition  came,  he  had  gathered  and  worked  in  much 
new  matter,  so  that  it  has  become  a  book  now  instead  of 
a  pamphlet. 

To  the  undersigned  was  committed  the  charge  of  editing 
it — a  labor  of  love  in  a  double  sense,  for  it  is  hard  to  say 
which  they  love  most,  the  writer  or  the  cause  of  political 
and  historic  truth  so  ably  championed  by  him.  It  is  all 
his  work — his  last  work — to  which  might  be  appended  the 
words  of  the  Roman  gladiator :  moriturus  vos  saluto. 

It  is  unnecessary  for  the  editors  to  say  anything  as  to 
the  purpose  for  which  this  book  was  written;  for  this  is 
fully  stated  in  the  preface  by  the  author,  and  the  conclud- 
ing words  of  the  second  chapter  show  how  the  facts 
set  forth,  and  so  fully  proved  in  this  book,  tend  to  allay 
rather  than  to  excite  sectional  feeling  between  North  and 
South.  If  in  doing  this  it  has  been  necessary  for  the 
writer  to  set  forth  facts  which  compel  Lincoln's  admirers 
to  esteem  him  less,  let  not  the  reader  blame  the  author  for 
lack  of  charity;  but  rather  consider  that  truth  is  a  very 
precious  thing,  and  that  only  truth  could  come  from  such 
an  array  of  unwilling  witnesses  as  has  been  marshalled 
here. 

No  man  ever  lived  more  willing  than  the  author  to  give 
due  homage  to  worth,  and  more  unwilling  to  take  from  a 


viii  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

hero  any  portion  of  his  meed  of  praise;  but  to  restore  in 
some  measure  that  goodwill  between  the  sections  which 
he  had  known  in  youth  and  early  manhood,  was  an  object 
with  him  beyond  all  price,  and  well  worth  his  utmost 
efforts  in  the  cause  of  truth,  even  though  it  should  compel 
the  world  to  place  one  of  its  heroes  on  a  lower  pedestal. 

True  here,  as  of  all  truth,  are  the  words  of  the  Master, 
**Ye  shall  know  the  truth,  and  the  truth  shall  make  you 
free,"  from  prejudice,  passion,  and  all  uncharitableness. 

The  editors  are  under  obligations  to  Mr.  Paul  S.  Whit- 
comb,  of  Portland,  Oregon,  for  permission  to  use  his  article 
on  *' Lincoln  and  Democracy"  which  originally  appeared 
in  Tyler's  Quarterly  Magazine;  to  Capt.  Samuel  A 'Court 
Ashe,  of  Raleigh,  N.  C,  for  condensing  said  article  and 
supplying  very  valuable  marginal  notes  thereto;  and  to 
Mrs.  Beulah  Johnson  Howell,  of  New  York  City,  for  valu- 
able suggestions. 

Berkeley  Minor, 
M.  D.  Carter. 


SKETCH  OF  THE  AUTHOR 

Charles  Landon  Carter  Minor  was  the  eldest  son  of 
Lucius  H.  Minor  of  ''Edgewood/'  Hanover  County,  Vir- 
ginia. His  mother  was  Catharine  Frances  Berkeley.  He 
was  born  December  3,  1835.  He  received  the  degree  of 
Master  of  Arts  at  the  University  of  Virginia  in  1858. 

The  beginning  of  the  War  between  the  States  found  him 
teaching  at  Bloomfield,  LeRoy  Broun 's  School,  in  Albe- 
marle County,  Virginia.  He  volunteered  very  shortly  after 
the  secession  of  his  native  State,  and  for  some  time  served 
as  a  private  in  the  Second  Virginia  Cavalry,  Munford's 
regiment,  seeing  much  active  service  about  Manassas  and 
in  *' Stonewall"  Jackson's  Valley  Campaign;  but  later 
by  competitive  examination  received  a  captain's  commis- 
sion in  the  Ordnance  Department,  and  served  on  General 
Sam.  Jones'  staff  in  Southwest  Virginia,  and  was  his  chief 
of  ordnance  when  in  command  at  Charleston,  South  Caro- 
lina. Captain  Minor's  last  assignment  was  with  General 
Gorgas  as  executive  officer  at  the  Richmond  Arsenal,  where 
he  was  when  the  war  ended. 

After  the  war  he  conducted  a  school  in  Lynchburg,  Vir- 
ginia, for  some  years.  Then  he  held  a  chair  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  the  South  at  Sewanee,  Tennessee,  till  he  was 
called  to  be  the  first  president  of  the  Virginia  Agricultural 
and  Mechanical  College,  now  the  Virginia  Polytechnic 
Institute,  at  Blacksburg,  Virginia,  where  he  was  for  eight 
years.  He  subsequently  conducted  the  Shenandoah  Valley 
Academy,  at  Winchester,  Virginia,  for  a  good  many  years, 
and  finally,  while  assistant  principal  of  the  Episcopal  High 
School,  near  Alexandria,  Virginia,  an  attack  of  grip  so 


X  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

injured  his  health  that  he  was  able  thereafter  only  to  take 
private  pupils  in  Baltimore. 

During  these  later  years  he  gave  much  time  to  historical 
and  political  studies,  particularly  of  the  times  of  the  Civil 
War,  and  wrote  a  good  deal  on  these  subjects  in  Baltimore 
and  Richmond  papers. 

In  1874  Dr.  Minor  received  the  degree  of  LL.D.  from 
William  and  Mary  College. 

In  1860  he  married  Miss  Fanny  Ansley  Cazenove,  of 
Alexandria,  Virginia.  Two  children  survive  him,  Fanny, 
wife  of  Rev.  James  F.  Plummer,  of  Clarksburg,  West  Vir- 
ginia, and  Anne,  wife  of  Rev.  A.  G.  Grinnan,  of  Weston, 
West  Virginia. 

Dr.  Minor  died  suddenly,  Monday,  July  13,  1903,  at 
*'Beaulieu'^  in  Albemarle  County,  Virginia,  the  residence 
of  his  brother-in-law,  R.  M.  Fontaine,  Esq. 

Dr.  Minor  was  a  devout  Christian  and  loyal  churchman ; 
for  many  years  of  his  life  a  vestryman,  sometimes  a  dele- 
gate in  the  Councils  of  the  diocese;  always  striving  to  do 
his  duty  in  that  state  of  life  unto  which  it  pleased  God  to 
call  him.  The  writer  knows  none  who  have  more  fully 
illustrated  the  character  of  the  Christian  gentleman  as 
drawn  by  Thackeray  in  the  *^End  of  the  Play." 

''Come  wealth  or  want,  come  good  or  ill, 

Let  young  and  old  accept  their  part, 
And  bow  before  the  awful  will. 

And  bear  it  with  an  honest  heart. 
Who  misses  or  who  wins  the  prize, — 

Go,  lose  or  conquer  as  you  can ; 
But  if  you  fail  or  if  you  rise. 

Be  each,  pray<God,  a  gentleman.'' 


PREFACE 

Since  the  publication  of  a  pamphlet  called  The  Real 
Lincoln,  the  author  has  found  in  the  Official  Records  of 
the  TJnion  Army,  published  by  the  United  States  War  De- 
partment, and  in  other  works  by  people  of  Northern 
sympathies,  much  that  is  interesting  and  curious  to  cor- 
roborate the  points  made  in  the  pamphlet,  and  to  estab- 
lish other  points  of  no  less  value  for  the  vindication  of  the 
cause  of  the  South,  and  for  the  establishment  of  the  con- 
clusion arrived  at  on  the  57th  page  of  the  pamphlet  that 
*'the  North  and  West  were  never  enemies  of  the  South" 
— a  conclusion  as  little  expected  and  as  surprising  to  the 
author  as  it  can  be  to  anyone  else.  The  final  result  of 
these  studies  is  herewith  given  in  a  volume  with  the  same 
title  as  the  pamphlet,  meeting  the  demand  for  a  second 
edition  of  that  work,  but  largely  increased  by  part  of 
the  accumulations  above  described. 

Some  explanation  is  needed  of  the  nature  and  aim  of  the 
work,  and  it  is  submitted,  as  follows : 

A  mistaken  estimate  of  Abraham  Lincoln  has  been 
spread  abroad  very  widely,  and  even  in  the  South  an  edi- 
torial in  a  leading  religious  paper  lately  said  as  follows: 
**Our  country  has  more  than  once  been  singularly  fortu- 
nate in  the  moral  character  and  the  admirable  personality 
of  its  popular  heroes.  Washington,  Lincoln  and  Lee  have 
been  the  type  of  character  that  it  was  safe  to  hold  up  to 
the  admiration  of  their  own  age  and  the  imitation  of  suc- 
ceeding generations."  In  the  North  the  paean  of  praise 
that  began  with  his  death  has  grown  to  such  extravagance 
that  he  has  been  called  by  one  eminent  popular  speaker. 


xii  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

' '  a  servant  and  follower  of  Jesus  Christ, ' '  and  by  another 
''first  of  all  that  have  walked  the  earth  after  the  Naza- 
rene, ' '  and  on  his  late  birthday  a  eulogist  asked  us  to  give 
up  aspirations  for  a  heaven  where  Lincoln's  presence  is 
not  assured.  A  very  distinguished  preacher,  on  Easter 
succeeding  the  Good  Friday  on  which  Lincoln  was  assas- 
sinated, called  him  ''A  Christian  man — a  servant  and  fol- 
lower of  Jesus  Christ —  .  .  .  one  whom  we  have 
revered  as  a  father,  and  loved  more  than  we  can  love  any 
human  friend,"  set  forth  a  comparison  between  his  death 
and  that  of  the  Saviour  of  Mankind,  likening  Wilkes  Booth 
to  Pilate,  and  ended  with,  ' '  Shall  we  not  say  of  the  day,  it 
is  fit?''  It  was  on  Good  Friday  that  Lincoln  was  shot, 
and  in  a  theatre. 

To  try  to  reawaken  or  to  foster  ill-will  between  the 
North  and  the  South  would  be  a  useless,  mischievous  and 
most  censurable  task,  and  it  will  be  seen  at  pages  13-14 
of  this  book  that  it  has  an  exactly  opposite  purpose,  but  it 
is  a  duty  to  correct  such  misrepresentations,  for  the  reason 
that  they  make  claims  for  Lincoln  entirely  inconsistent 
with  the  concessions  of  grave  defects  in  him  that  are  made 
by  the  closest  associates  of  his  private  life;  by  the  most 
respectable  and  most  eulogistic  biographers  and  historians 
of  his  own  day  and  of  this  day,  at  home  and  abroad,  who 
have  described  his  character  and  career,  and  equally  in- 
consistent with  the  estimates  of  him  by  the  greatest  and 
closest  associates  of  his  public  life,  and  by  a  very  large 
part  of  the  great  Northern  and  Western  Republican  leaders 
of  his  own  day.  The  fact  that  the  evidence  submitted  comes 
from  such  witnesses,  and  such  witnesses  only,  is  the  chief 
claim  that  this  book  has  upon  the  interest  and  confidence 
of  its  readers,  and  attention  is  called  to  the  extraordinary 
cogency  of  such  evidence,  and  to  the  fact  that  not  a  word 
of  testimony  is  offered  out  of  the  mass  that  might  be  offered 


PREFACE  xiii 

from  the  eminent  writers,  speakers,  statesmen,  and  soldiers 
who  took  the  Southern  side. 

In  the  Appendix  will  be  found,  in  alphabetical  order, 
the  names  of  all  the  witnesses  whose  evidence  is  submitted. 
Reference  is  invited  to  that  Appendix,  as  each  witness  is 
reached  by  the  reader,  and  especially  in  every  case  where 
the  reader  finds  it  hard  to  believe  the  evidence,  and  it  will 
be  found  that  each  is  included  in  one  of  the  above  indi- 
cated classes.  Only  old  and  exceptionally  well-informed 
men  of  this  day  are  likely  to  know  the  ample  authority 
with  which  these  witnesses  speak.  See  Lincoln  himself; 
see  Generals  U.  S.  Grant,  and  Wm.  T.  Sherman ;  see  Lin- 
coln's greatest  Cabinet  Ministers,  Seward,  Chase,  and 
Stanton;  see,  among  the  foremost  leaders  of  thought  and 
action  of  their  day,  John  Sherman,  Ben  Wade,  and  Thad- 
deus  Stevens ;  see  representatives  of  the  highest  intellectual 
and  moral  standards,  Richard  Dana,  Edward  Everett, 
Charles  Francis  Adams,  and  Robert  Winthrop;  see  the 
most  ardent  and  prominent  Abolitionists,  Senator  Sumner, 
and  Wendell  Phillips;  see  Horace  Greeley,  whose  lofty 
integrity  extorted  admiration  from  thousands  on  whose 
nearest  and  dearest  interests  his  Tribune  newspaper  waged 
a  war  as  deadly  as  it  was  honest;  see  the  correspondent 
of  the  London  TimeSy  Russell ;  see  the  most  1902,  up-to-date 
historians  of  our  own  day,  Ida  Tarbell,  A.  K.  McClure, 
Schouler,  Ropes,  and  Rhodes;  and  see  the  most  intimate 
associates  of  Lincoln's  lifetime,  Lamon  and  Herndon,  who 
give  such  reasons  for  telling  not  the  good  only,  but  all  they 
know  about  their  great  friend,  as  win  commendation  from 
the  latest  biographers  of  all,  Morse  and  Hapgood,  whose 
books  have  received  only  praise  from  the  American  read- 
ing public. 

The  following  objection  has  been  made  to  the  first  edi- 
tion of  this  work:    ''What  has  the  author  himself  to  say 


xiv  THE  KEAL  LINCOLN 

about  Lincoln  ?  Nothing  is  found  from  the  author  himself ; 
only  what  other  people  have  said  or  written. ' '  It  was  the 
author's  purpose  to  submit  the  testimony  of  certain  classes 
above  described,  and  to  leave  the  reader  to  draw  his  own 
conclusions. 

Another  objection  has  been  offered,  that  this  book  gives 
only  the  bad  side  of  Lincoln,  and  not  the  good.  The 
author  makes  the  acknowledgment  that  the  largest  meas- 
ure of  every  excellence — intellectual,  moral,  and  spiritual 
— ^has  been  claimed  for  Lincoln,  and  very  generally  con- 
ceded to  him,  and  space  need  not  be  given  to  reciting  those 
claims,  because  they  are  familiar  to  all  who  have  given  the 
least  attention  to  Lincoln's  place  in  the  world's  esteem, 
and  because  to  give  them  any  adequate  statement  would 
require  a  space  like  the  ten  very  large  volumes  in  which 
Nicolay  and  Hay  have  done  that  work  so  ably  and  with 
such  jealous  protection  of  their  hero's  good  name.  Not 
only  does  the  author  concede  that  these  comprehensive 
claims  have  been  made  and  have  been  generally  admitted, 
but  the  Appendix  shows  that  even  the  strongest  of  these 
claims  have  been  made,  in  whole  or  in  part,  by  most  of  the 
very  witnesses  whose  testimony  is  quoted  in  this  book.  To 
reconcile  the  damaging  concessions  with  the  contradictory 
claims  by  the  same  witnesses  is  not  the  duty  of  the  author 
of  this  book.  An  examination  of  the  chapter  headed 
Apotheosis  of  Lincoln  will,  however,  discover  some  expla- 
nation of  these  contradictions.  It  was  a  saying  of  Lord 
Somers  that  often  the  most  material  part  of  testimony  is 
that  on  which  the  witness  values  himself  the  least. 

A  third  objection  has  been  made,  that  this  book  gives 
the  testimony  of  Lincoln's  enemies.  Who  were  Lincoln's 
friends,  if  they  are  not  included  among  these  witnesses, 
and  which  of  these  witnesses  was  not  on  his  side  in  the 
great  contest? 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

CHAPTER  I 

APOTHEOSIS    OF    LINCOLN  ' 

FEW  who  read  this  book  will  escape  the  conclu- 
sion that  The  Real  Lincoln  was  a  very  different 
man,  in  his  private  and  in  his  public  life,  from  what 
the  world's  verdict  has  pronounced  him  to  be.  The 
question  then  must  arise  in  the  mind  of  every  one 
interested  in  his  history,  how  so  false  an  estimate  of 
him  was  impressed  on  men's  minds.  The  way  it  was 
done  has  been  described  more  or  less  fully  by  several 
of  his  eulogists,  as  is  now  about  to  be  shown ;  and  a 
name.  Apotheosis,  has  been  given  to  the  process  of 
deification  by  four  of  his  ardent  eulogists.'  The 
Century  Dictionary  defines  the  word  apotheosis  as 
^^deification;  excessive  honor  paid  to  any  great  or 
distinguished  person;  the  ascription  of  extraordi- 
nary virtues  or  superhuman  qualities  to  a  human 
being. ' ' 

Allen  Thorndike  Rice  describes '  the  process  as 

*  In  previous  editions  this  chapter  and  the  one  immediately  following,  en- 
titled "What  This  Book  Would  Teach,"  appeared  as  the  last  two  chapters. 
As  explaining  why  the  book  was  written  and  what  it  hopes  to  accomplish, 
they  logically  belong  at  the  first,  hence  the  change  of  position  in  this  edition. — 
Editor. 

*  Horace  White,  John  Russell  Young,  Ward  H.  Lamon  and  Vice-President 
Hamlin. 

'  Introduction  to  Reminiscences  of  Lincoln,  dc,  p.  18. 

1 


2  THE  EEAL  LINCOLN 

follows :  '^  Story  after  story,  and  trait  after  trait,  as 
varying  in  value  as  in  authenticity,  have  been  added 
to  the  Lincolniana  until  at  last  the  name  of  the  great 
War  President  has  come  to  be  a  biographical  lode- 
stone,  attracting  without  .  .  .  discrimination 
both  the  true  and  false. ' '  Horace  White  says,*  *  *  The 
popular  judgment  of  him  is  in  the  main  correct  and 
unshakable.  I  say  in  the  main,  because  in  this 
judgment  there  is  a  tendency  to  apotheosis  which, 
while  pardonable,  is  not  historical,  and  will  not 
lasf  And  he  goes  on  (p.  21),  **The  popular  con- 
ception of  Mr.  Lincoln  as  one  not  seeking  public 
honors  ...  is  a  post  helium  growth;  .  .  . 
he  was  (p.  22)  in  hot,  incessant  competition  with  his 
fellows  for  earthly  honors." 

Horace  White  goes  on  (p.  26),  *^  What  Mr.  Lincoln 
was  after  he  became  President  can  best  be  under- 
stood by  knowing  what  he  was  before.  The  world 
owes  more  to  Mr.  William  H.  Herndon  for  this  par- 
ticular knowledge  than  to  all  other  persons  taken 
together. '  * 

As  late  as  September  14,  1901,  the  Church  Stand- 
ard, of  Philadelphia  said  of  McKinley  that  *4ike 
Abraham  Lincoln  five  and  thirty  years  ago,  he  was 
hardly  known  for  what  he  was  until  he  died.'' 
General  Keifer  said  {Slavery  and  Four  Years  of 
War,  p.  178),  **But  President  Lincoln  was  not  un- 
derstood in  1861  nor  even  later  during  the  war,  and 
not  fully  during  life,  by  either  his  enemies  or  his 
personal  or  party  friends.''    Schouler  says  of  Gen. 

^  Introduction   to  a  later  book  claiming  to  be   Herndon's  Abraham  Lincoln. 
See  the  Appendix  at  the  name  of  Herndon. 


THE  KEAL  LINCOLN  3 

William  T.  Sherman's  first  interview  with  Lincoln 
{History  of  the  United  States ^  Vol.  VI,  p.  23)  that 
he  **left  the  mansion  .  .  .  silenced  and  morti- 
fied,'' and  General  Sherman  himself  says  of  the  in- 
terview {Memoir,  Vol.  I,  p.  168),  ^^I  was  sadly 
disappointed,  and  remember  that  I  broke  out  on 

John,"  d ning  the  politicians  generally,  saying 

'you  have  got  things  in  a  hell  of  a  fix.'  "  Ehodes 
says  {History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  IV,  p.  211), 
**The  hand  that  draws  the  grotesque  trait  of  Lin- 
coln may  disappoint  the  hero-worshipper,  but  the 
truth  of  the  story  requires  this  touch  which  .  .  . 
and  .  .  .  serves  as  a  justification  for  these  who 
could  not  in  the  winter  of  1862- '3  see  with  the 
eyes  of  to-day."     .     .     . 

The  biographer  of  Ex- Vice-President  Hamlin 
says,**  *' Indeed  Mr.  Hamlin  was  of  the  opinion  that 
no  man  ever  grew  in  the  executive  chair  in  his  life- 
time as  Lincoln  did.  .  .  .  Lincoln's  growth  has 
long  been  a  favorite  theme  with  writers  and 
speakers;  .  .  .  his  extreme  eulogists  made  the 
mistake  of  constructing  a  Lincoln  who  was  as  great 
the  day  he  left  Springfield  as  when  he  made  his 
earthly  exit  four  years  later.  Lincoln's  astonish- 
ing development  was  thus  ignored,  and  .  .  . 
There  is  no  intention  of  reviving  an  issue  that  once 
caused  wide  discussion.  .  .  .  Mr.  Hamlin  came 
to  the  ultimate  opinion  that  Lincoln  was  the  great- 
est figure  of  the  age.  .  .  .  But  he  saw  two 
Lincolns."     .     .     . 

In  these  last  extracts  the  biographer  makes  us 

*  His  Brother,  Senator  John  Sherman,  had  introduced  him  to  the  President. 

•  Life  and  Times  of  Hannibal  Hamlin,  by  C.  E.  Hamlin,  p.  393. 


4  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

aware  of  two  things — that  Lincoln's  Vice-President 
was  long  in  discovering  his  greatness  and  that 
efforts  were  made  to  check  the  apotheosis  when  it 
began.  No  one  who  knows  the  history  of  the  time, 
as  told  by  the  most  ardent  Northern  historians,  such 
as  Ehodes,  or  Eopes,  or  Schonler,  will  wonder  that 
the  contest  ceased  on  the  **  issue  that  once  caused 
wide  discussion. '^  Lalor's  Cyclopaedia  quotes  the 
official  records  to  show  that  thirty-eight  thousand 
men  and  women  had  been  dealt  with  by  courts-mar- 
tial. Many  incurred  imprisonment,  often  long  and 
torturing,  and  not  a  few  the  death  sentence  and  exe- 
cution.'' No  doubt  some  who  had  disapproved  the 
conquest  and  the  emancipation  were  tempted  to  join 
in  the  io  triumpJie,  and  to  share  the  monstrous 
spoils.  The  vast  number  who  had  opposed  the  whole 
war  could  hardly  do  else  than  despair  and  acquiesce. 
Fresh  from  a  system  that  placed  provost  marshals 
wherever  needed,  and  furnished  veteran  soldiers  to 
repress  resistance,  only  very  bold  men  would  ven- 
ture to  provoke  the  domin^t  powers  by  criticising 
him  who  had  won  the  victory  and  the  title  of  martyr. 
No  protest  could  get  a  hearing  over  the  din  of 
triumph.  From  the  South  protest  was  hopeless.  It 
was  the  Reconstruction  Period,  a  time  now  regarded 
with  complacency  by  none  or  very  few. 

Hamlin's  biographer,  his  son,  further  goes  on  to 
say  (p.  489),  **The  truth  should  be  emphasized  that 
it  is  a  great  mistake  to  judge  public  men  of  this 
time  by  their  attitude  toward  Lincoln,"  and  he 
names  among  those  who  opposed  and  bitterly  cen- 

'  See  page  141  of  this  book. 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  5 

sured  Lincoln  (p.  50,  p.  51  and  p.  449),  Chandler, 
Wade,  Sumner,  Collamer,  Trumbull,  Hale,  Wilson, 
Stevens,  H.  Winter  Davis  (p.  454),  Grimes,  Julian, 
Governor  Andrew,  of  Massachusetts,  David  Dudley 
Field,  John  Jay,  Wendell  Phillips,  Horace  Greeley, 
Wm.  Cullen  Bryant,  and  Secretary  Chase.  Schouler 
says  {History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  VI,  p.  21), 
^^Yet  Lincoln  was  long  believed  by  contemporaries 
secondary  in  point  of  statesmanship.  .  .  . 
Lincoln,  as  one  of  fame 's  immortals,  does  not  appear 
in  the  Lincoln  of  1861,  whom  men  outside  of  the 
administration'  likened  in  ridicule  to  the  original 
gorilla,'' 

Morse  says  (Lincoln,  Vol.  I,  p.  75)  of  Lincoln's 
^'elaborate  speech"  in  Congress  on  his  resolutions 
nicknamed  **the  Spot  Eesolutions,"  which  Congress 
did  not  notice  by  any  action :  *  ^  It  may  be  not  a  very 
great  or  remarkable  speech,  but  it  was  a  good  one,'' 
.  .  .  and  says  the  resolutions  **were  sufficiently 
noteworthy  to  save  Lincoln  from  being  left  among 
the  nobodies  of  the  House. ' '  This  is  faint  'praise  for 
Lincoln's  career  in  Congress. 

John  Russell  Young  is  quoted'  as  follows:  **I 
have  never  read  a  description  of  him  that  recalls 
him  as  I  knew  him.  Something  always  beyond  and 
beyond.  Nor  has  fame  been  kind  to  him  in  the  sense 
that  fame  is  never  kind  unless  it  is  just.  There  is 
little  justice  in  much  that  is  written  of  Lincoln. 
Then  comes  the  dismal  fear  that  he  is  to  live  in  an 

'  His  Chief  Cabinet  Ministers,   Stanton  and  Chase,  were  not  outside  of  the 
administration.     See  what  they  called  him,  page  39  of  this  book. 
*  Review  in  N.  Y.  Times  for  January  18,   1902,  p.  34. 


6  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

apotheosis.  His  sad  fate  may  invite  this ;  assassina- 
tion is  ever  a  consecration,  for  thns  do  the  gods  ap- 
point their  compensations.  .  .  .  The  figure  van- 
ishes into  mists ;  incense  vapors  a  vision,  not  a  man. 
For  of  such  is  human  sympathy  and  human  love." 

And  the  reviewer  goes  on,  **If  Lincoln  could  have 
chosen,  Mr.  Young  thinks,  and  justly,  that  he  would 
have  desired  to  be  remembered  as  he  was,  and  not 
looked  at  through  any  distorting  medium  like  the 
aureole  and  crowning  flame  of  martyrdom.  .  .  . 
Mr.  Lincoln  did  not  impress  the  capital  as  a  welcome 
personal  force.  Living  in  an  element  of  detraction, 
he  was  not  a  popular  man.  It  would  be  hard  to  re- 
call his  friends." 

No  longer  ago  than  February,  1902,  a  journal  as 
strongly  Republican  as  Leslie* s  Weekly  published  a 
paper  called  Mr,  Lincoln's  Habits  and  Tendencies, 
which  contained  the  following:  ''Mr.  Lincoln's 
neighbors  in  Springfield  cannot  yet  realize  that  he 
was  a  marvelously  great  man.  .  .  .  They  think 
there  has  been  a  mistake  made,  somehow;  as  he 
presented  himself  to  them,  he  was  decidedly  of  the 
earth,  earthy," 

In  order  to  express  his  regret  for  the  fact  that" 
''the  men  whose  acquaintance  with  Lincoln  was  in- 
timate enough  to  form  any  just  estimate  of  his  char- 
acter, .  .  .  did  not  more  fully  appreciate  his 
statesmanship    and   other   great   qualities;     .     .     . 

lo  Rhodes,  in  his  History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  III.,  p.  368,  note, 
records  that  R.  Fuller,  a  prominent  Baptist  preacher,  wrote  Chase:  "1 
niaiked  the  President  closely.  .  .  .  He  is  wholly  inaccessible  to  Christian 
appeals,  and  his  egotism  will  ever  prevent  his  comprehending  what  patriotism 
means." 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  7 

that  they  did  not  recognize  him  as  the  greatest  pa- 
triot, statesman  and  writer  of  his  time,"  Rhodes 
makes  the  important  concession  {History  of  the 
United  States,  Vol.  IV,  p.  211,  et  seq.),  ''We  can- 
not wonder  that  his  contemporaries  failed  to  per- 
ceive his  greatness.'' 

How  very  far  this  *^  failure  to  appreciate  his 
greatness''  prevailed  among  the  many  eminent  liter- 
ary men  of  the  North  is  noteworthy,  for  the  world 
has  been  much  misled  about  it.  Horace  Scudder, 
long  editor  of  the  Atlantic  Monthly,  says  of  the  sixth 
stanza  of  the  famous  Commemoration  Ode  (Biog- 
raphy of  Lowell,  Vol.  XI,  p.  70),  **Into  these  three 
score  lines  Lowell  has  poured  a  conception  of  Lin- 
coln which  may  justly  be  said  to  be  today  the  ac- 
cepted idea  which  Americans  hold  of  their  great 
President.  It  was  the  final  expression  of  the  judg- 
ment which  had  been  slowly  forming  in  Lowell's 
own  mind,  and  when  he  summed  him  up  in  his  last 
line,  *New  birth  of  our  new  soul,  the  first  American,' 
he  was  honestly  throwing  away  all  the  doubts  which 
had  from  time  to  time  beset  him." 

The  words  *Hhe  judgment  which  had  been  slowly 
forming"  and  *^ doubts  which  had  from  time  to  time 
beset  him,"  can  be  understood  from  the  following 
extracts,  and  others  that  might  be  made  from  the 
Biography.  Vol.  XI,  p.  29,  records  that  Lowell 
wrote  a  friend  in  December,  1861,  '^I  confess  that 
my  opinion  of  the  government  does  not  improve. 
.  .  .  I  guess  an  ounce  of  Fremont  is  worth  a 
pound  of  Long  Abraham."  Three  years  later  he 
wrote  Mr.  Norton   (Vol.  XI,  p.  55),  ^*I  hear  bad 


8  THE  KEAL  LINCOLN 

things  about  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  try  not  to  believe 
them/'    How  very  late  Lowell  did  throw  away  the 
doubts  about  Lincoln  which  had  beset  him  is  curi- 
ously shown  by  Scudder's  reluctant  concession  of 
the  fact  (Vol.  XI,  p.  70)  that  Lincoln  was  not  re- 
ferred to  at  all  in  the  ode  as  delivered  (July  21, 
1865)  by  Lowell  on  Commemoration  Day  at  Harvard, 
but  was  subsequently  introduced  into  it.     Scudder 
says  (Vol.  XI,  p.  70),  ''The  sixth  stanza  was  not 
recited,  but  was  written  immediately,  afterward." 
Laboring  to  explain  this,  he  is  obliged  to  call  it  ''an 
after-thought,"  and  to  say,  "one  likes  to  fancy  the 
whole  force  of  the  ode  behind  it,"  though  he  has 
shown  that  any  such  fancy  would  be  entertained  in 
defiance  of  the  facts  he  records.     If  this  "after- 
thought" did  occur  to  Lowell  "immediately"  after, 
it  did  not  occur  to  him,  according  to  Scudder 's  own 
dates,  sooner  than  ninety  days  after  Lincoln's  assas- 
sination; and  it  is  a  curious  additional  example  of 
his  apotheosis,  that  this  "conception  of  Lincoln" 
should  have  become,  as  Scudder  says,  "the  accepted 
idea  which  Americans  hold  of  their  great  President. ' ' 
The  New  York  Nation,  November  28,  1901,  says,  re- 
viewing Scudder 's  Life  of  Lowell,  "LowelPs  grow- 
ing appreciation  of  Lincoln  is  an  important  trait.    A 
good  many  will  be  grieved  to  learn  that  the  great 
Lincoln  passage  in  the  Commemoration  Ode  was  not 
a  part  of  it  when  it  was  first  read  by  its  author,  but 
was  written  subsequently."     The  same  Nation  re- 
veals that  but  for  Lowell 's  wife,  he  would  have  gone 
"hopelessly  wrong  on   the   main   question   of  his 
time. ' ' 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  9 

However  late  Lowell's  favorable  judgment  of 
Lincoln  was  formed,  Scudder  quotes  (Vol.  XI,  p. 
71)  from  a  paper  in  the  Century  Magazine  for  April, 
1887,  headed  Lincoln  and  Lowell,  as  follows: 
*^  Lowell  was  the  first  of  the  leading  American  writ- 
ers to  see  clearly  and  fully  and  enthusiastically  the 
greatness  of  Abraham  Lincoln." 

All  of  this  testimony  to  the  fact  that  people  found 
in  Lincoln  before  his  death  nothing  remarkably 
good  or  great,  but  on  the  contrary  found  him  the 
reverse  of  goodness  or  greatness,  comes  from  wit- 
nesses the  most  trustworthy  possible,  they  being 
what  lawyers  call  unwilling  witnesses.  So  far,  how- 
ever, as  they  testify,  either  directly  or  by  sugges- 
tion, that  a  marvelous  change,  intellectual,  moral 
and  spiritual  came  over  Lincoln  after  his  entrance 
on  the  duties  of  President,  their  evidence  has  no 
such  weight  as  that  recorded  by  them  against  him, 
and  has  a  strong  presumption  against  its  truth. 

Gen.  Donn  Piatt  presents  very  effectively  his 
view  of  how  the  change  of  the  American  world's 
feeling  toward  Lincoln,  and  of  its  estimate  of  him, 
came  about.  In  Reminiscences  of  Lincoln  (p.  21) 
he  says:  ** Lincoln  was  believed  by  contemporaries 
secondary  in  point  of  talent"  and  ^^ Lincoln  as  one 
of  Fame 's  immortals  does  not  appear  in  the  Lincoln 
of  1861,  whom  men  .  .  .  likened  to  Hhe  original 
gorilla.'""  *' Fictitious  heroes  have  been  em- 
balmed in  lies,  and  monuments  are  being  reared  to 
the  memories  of  men  whose  real  histories,  when  they 

"  Schouler,  in  his  History  of  the  United  States,  Vol,  VI.,  p.  21,  uses  with- 
out quotation  marks  the  exact  words  of  Piatt  above  quoted. 


10  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

come  to  be  known,  will  make  this  bronze  and  marble 
the  monuments  of  our  ignorance  and  folly."  And 
again  he  says  {Reminiscences  of  Lincoln,  &c., 
p.  477) :  ^^  With  us,  when  a  leader  dies,  all  good  men 
go  to  lying  about  him,  and,  from  the  monument  that 
covers  his  remains  to  the  last  echo  of  the  rural 
press,  in  speeches,  sermons,  eulogies  and  reminis- 
cences, we  have  naught  but  pious  lies.''  .  .  . 
^*Poor  Garfield  .  .  .  was  almost  driven  to  sui- 
cide by  abuse  while  he  lived.  He  fell  by  the  hand 
of  an  assassin,  and  passed  in  a  moment  to  the  role 
of  popular  saints.  .  .  .  Popular  beliefs  in  time 
come  to  be  superstitions  and  create  gods  and  devils. 
Thus  Washington  is  deified  into  an  impossible  man, 
and  Aaron  Burr  has  passed  into  a  like  impossible 
monster.  Through  this  same  process,  Abraham 
Lincoln,  one  of  our  truly  great,  has  almost  gone 
from  human  knowledge  (the  Reminiscences  are 
dated  1886).  I  hear  of  him  and  read  of  him  in 
eulogies  and  biographies,  and  fail  to  recognize  the 
man  I  encountered  for  the  first  time  in  the  canvass 
that  called  him  from  private  life  to  be  President  of 
the  United  States. ' '  Piatt  then  goes  on  to  describe  " 
a  conference  that  he  and  General  Schenck  had  with 
Lincoln  in  his  home  in  Springfield.  *^I  soon  discov- 
ered that  this  strange  and  strangely-gifted  man, 
while  not  at  all  cynical,  was  a  sceptic;  his  view  of 
human  nature  was  low;  ...  he  unconsciously 
accepted  for  himself  and  his  party  the  same  low  line 
that  he  awarded  the  South.     Expressing  no  sym- 


^"^  Reminiscences  of  Lincoln,  d-c,  p.  480:     "Lincoln  had  just  been  nominated 
for  the  first  time." 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  11 

pathy  for  the  slave,  he  laughed  at  the  Abolitionists  " 
as  a  disturbing  element  easily  controlled,  without 
showing  any  dislike  to  the  slave-holders.  .  .  . 
We  were  not  (p.  481)  at  a  loss  to  get  at  the  fact  and 
the  reason  for  it,  in  the  man  before  us.  Descended 
from  the  poor-whites  of  a  slave  State,  through  many 
generations,  he  inherited  the  contempt,  if  not  the 
hatred,  held  by  that  class  for  the  negroes.  A  self- 
made  man,  ...  his  strong  nature  was  built  on 
what  he  inherited,  and  he  could  no  more  feel  a 
sympathy  for  that  wretched  race  than  he  could  for 
the  horse  he  worked  or  the  hog  he  killed."  In  this 
he  exhibited  the  marked  trait  that  governed  his  pub- 
lic life.  ...  He  knew  and  saw  clearly  that  the 
people  of  the  free  States  not  only  had  no  sympathy 
with  the  abolition  of  slavery,  but  held  fanatics,  as 
Abolitionists  were  called,  in  utter  abhorrence. 
While  it  seemed  a  cheap  philanthropy,  and  there- 
fore popular,  to  free  another  man's  slave,  the  un- 
requited toil  of  the  slave  was  more  valuable  to  the 
North  than  to  the  South.  With  our  keen  business 
instincts,  we  of  the  free  States  utilized  the  brutal 
work  of  the  master.     They  made,  without  saving, 


"  Mrs.  Lincoln  was  present,  and  General  Piatt  adds,  "One  of  Mrs.  Lincoln's 
interjected  remarks  was,  'The  country  will  find  how  we  regarded  that  Abolition 
sneak,  Seward.'  "  Rhodes  says,  in  his  History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  II., 
p.  325 :  "Lincoln  was  not,  however,  in  any  sense  of  the  word,  an  Abolitionist." 
Whitney,  too,  says  in  his  On  Circuit  with  Lincoln,  p.  634,  "He  had  no  in- 
tention to  make  voters  of  the  negroes — in  fact  their  welfare  did  not  enter  his 
policy  at  all."  Rhodes  quotes,  in  his  History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  IV., 
p.  64,  note,  testimony  of  General  Wadsworth,  who  was  in  daily  communica- 
tion, frequently  for  five  or  six  hours,  with  the  President  and  Stanton,  as 
follows:  "He  never  heard  him  speak  of  anti-slavery  men  otherwise  than  as 
'radicals,'   'abolitionists' ;   and  of  the   'nigger  question'  he  frequently  spoke," 

"  "Herndon's   Lincoln,   Vol.    V.,  p.   74,   et  seq.,    tells   a    story    of    Lincoln's 

barbarous  cruelty,   etc." 


12  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

all  that  we  accumulated.  .  .  .  Wendell  Phil- 
lips, the  silver-tongued  advocate  of  human  rights, 
was,  while  Mr.  Lincoln  was  talking  to  us,  being 
ostracised  at  Boston  and  rotten-egged  at  Cincinnati. 
.  .  .  The  Abolitionist  was  (p.  482)  hunted  and 
imprisoned  under  the  shadow  of  Bunker  Hill 
Monument  as  keenly  as  he  was  tracked  by  blood- 
hounds at  the  South." 

Then  General  Piatt  candidly  repudiates  the  false 
pretensions  that  are  so  often  made  to  lofty,  benevo- 
lent purpose  in  those  who  ^^  conquered  the  rebel- 
lion," and  ends  as  follows:  *^We  are  quick  to 
forget  the  facts  and  slow  to  recognize  the  truths 
that  knock  from  under  us  our  pretentious  claims 
to  high  philanthropy.  As  I  have  said,  abolitionism 
was  not  only  unpopular  when  the  war  broke  out, 
but  it  was  detested.  ...  I  remember  when  the 
Hutchinsons  were  driven  from  the  camps  of  the 
Potomac  Army  by  the  soldiers,  for  singing  their 
Abolition  songs,  and  I  remember  well  that  for 
nearly  two  years  of  our  service  as  soldiers  we  were 
engaged  in  returning  slaves  to  their  masters  when 
the  poor  creatures  sought  shelter  in  our  lines." 


CHAPTER  II 

WHAT  THIS  BOOK  WOULD  TEACH. 

IN  VIEW  of  what  this  book  presents,  those  who 
have  learned  to  rate  Lincoln  highest  can  hardly 
refuse  to  modify  their  estimation  of  him,  and  it  was 
with  the  purpose  to  effect  such  a  change  in  men's 
minds,  in  the  interest  of  truth,  that  the  task  was  un- 
dertaken. But  the  search  in  Northern  records  has 
taught  the  writer  another  truth,  and  a  more  impor- 
tant one,  that  he  was  far  from  seeking.  To  gain 
the  ear  of  the  people  of  Northern  prejudices  by 
presenting  no  testimony  but  that  of  Northern  wit- 
nesses was  the  plan  adopted  in  seeking  materials 
for  this  sketch.  To  win  more  patient  hearing  from 
people  of  Southern  prejudices,  it  had  been  contem- 
plated to  put  on  the  title  page  as  motto  Fas  est  ah 
hoste  doceri.  But  the  search  showed  that  the 
North  and  the  West  were  never  enemies  of  the 
South;  that  those  who  disapproved,  deplored,  bit- 
terly censured  secession,  for  the  most  part  dis- 
approved yet  more  coercion  of  sister  States  and 
emancipation  of  the  negroes,  while  a  vast  part 
thought  the  South  was  asking  what  she  had  a  right 
to  ask. 

Should  we  forget  these  things  as  matters  of  re- 
proach upon  our  country's  past?  Should  we  not 
rather  recall  them  now  and  earnestly  weigh  them 
and  take  courage  from  the  recollection  that  not  in 

13 


14  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

the  border  States  only,  but  in  every  State,  many 
men  were  found  ready  to  make  formidable  resist- 
ance with  loss  of  fortune,  liberty,  and  life  to  what 
its  most  ardent  eulogists  call  a  complete  military 
despotism?  May  their  sons  work  with  us  to  prevent 
or,  if  need  be,  to  resist  like  evils  in  the  future ! 

So  it  is  to  forgetfulness  of  the  sad  quarrel — ^to 
love,  not  to  resentment  or  hate — ^that  the  lessons  of 
this  book  would  lead  its  readers.  Those  who  taught 
that  there  was  **an  irrepressible  conflict"  between 
the  North  and  South  were  but  a  handful  of  fanatics 
— the  same  who  denounced  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  as  a  **  covenant  with  hell,  and  a 
league  with  death. ' '  * 

Is  it  not  shown  in  this  book  that  it  would  have 
been  nearer  the  truth  to  say  that  the  North  and  the 
South  were  essentially  of  one  accord  on  the  two 
questions,  whether  a  State  might,  at  least  as  a  revo- 
lutionary right,  withdraw  from  the  Union,  and 
whether  the  negroes  should  be  emancipated? 

Is  it  not  an  immense  gain  to  know  that  the  facts 
were  as  set  forth  above,  rather  than  go  on  believing 
the  story  that  has  spread  so  widely — that  one  side 
carried  fire  and  sword  into  the  homes  of  the  other 
as  a  punishment  they  believed  the  sufferer  well  de- 
served? Can  those  who  suffered  the  great  wrong 
really  forgive  and  forget  while  events  are  so  re- 
corded in  history? 

*  Such,  Gen.  B.  F.  Butler  says,  was     .     .     .      "the  proposition  of  the  Free- 
Soil  party,  as  enunciated  by  William  Lloyd  Garrison,"  as  late  as  1849. 


CHAPTER  III 

WAS   LINCOLN    HEROIC? 

BEFORE  considering  the  testimony  as  to  Lin- 
coln's moral  and  religious  character  that  is 
furnished  by  the  two  intimate  friends  of  his  whole 
lifetime,  Ward  H.  Lamon  and  William  H.  Herndon, 
readers  should  examine  carefully  what  is  told  of 
them  in  the  Appendix  under  their  names,  in  order  to 
see  the  extraordinary  conclusiveness  of  their  testi- 
mony. Besides  this,  the  reader  will  find  proof  there 
that  when  no  one  of  the  many  distinguished  eulogists 
of  Lincoln  had  ventured  to  try  to  controvert  or  even 
to  contradict  what  Lamon  and  Herndon  call  their 
*' revelations "  and  *^ ghastly  exposures"  about  Lin- 
coln, although  Lamon 's  book  was  published  as  long 
ago  as  1872  and  Herndon 's  as  long  ago  as  1888,  de- 
fenders of  Lincoln  were  reduced  to  the  strait  of  pub- 
lishing as  late  as  the  years  1892  and  1895  two  books 
with  titles  similar  to  the  genuine  books  of  Lamon 
and  Herndon,  which  new  books  make  no  reference  to 
the  existence  of  the  earlier  books,  contain  the  frank 
avowals  of  Lamon  and  Herndon  that  they  mean  to 
tell  all  the  gravest  faults  of  their  hero  along  with  his 
virtues  and  omit  the  **  revelations "  and  *^  ghastly 
exposures." 

Among  the  heroic  traits  claimed  for  Lincoln  is 
personal  courage.  This  claim  is  hard  to  reconcile 
with   his    carefully   concealed   midnight   ride    into 

15 


16  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

Washington  a  day  or  two  before  his  inauguration. 
A.  K.  McClure '  has  been  at  no  small  pains  to  apolo- 
gize for  it,  describes  the  midnight  journey,  and  says : 
^*His  answer  to  solicitations  at  a  dinner  given  him 
by  Governor  Curtin  in  Harrisburg — to  go  as  he  did 
go  to  Washington — was  substantially,  and  I  think 
exactly,  in  these  words:  *I  cannot  consent.  What 
would  the  nation  think  of  its  President  stealing  into 
the  Capital  like  a  thief  in  the  night. ' '  McClure  calls 
these  words  *  *  painfully  pathetic. ' '  Lamon  describes 
{Recollections  of  Lincoln,  Sc,  p.  39,  et  seq.)  a  con- 
ference with  his  friends  in  Harrisburg  in  the  eve- 
ning of  the  same  day,  in  which  conference  Lincoln 
decided  to  make  the  midnight  journey,  though 
warned  by  Colonel  Sumner  that  it  *^  would  be  a 
damned  piece  of  cowardice.^'  Lamon  says  {Life  of 
Lincoln,  p.  526,  et  seq,) :  *^Mr.  Lincoln  soon  learned 
to  regret  the  midnight  ride.  His  friends  reproached 
him,  his  enemies  taunted  him.  He  was  convinced 
that  he  had  committed  a  grave  mistake  in  yielding  to 
the  solicitations  of  a  professional  spy,  and  of  friends 
too  easily  alarmed.  He  saw  that  he  had  fled  from  a 
danger  purely  imaginary,  and  felt  the  shame  and 
mortification  natural  to  a  brave  man  under  such  cir- 
cumstances. .  .  ."  The  Hon.  Henry  L.  Dawes 
says  {Tributes  fromhis  Associates,  ip A) :  ** He  never 
altogether  lost  to  me  the  look  with  which  he  met  the 
curious  and,  for  the  moment  not  very  kind  gaze  of 
the  House  of  Representatives  on  that  first  morning 
after  what  they  deemed  a  pusillanimous  creep  into 

*  Lincoln  and  Men  of  the  War  Time,  p.  46,  et  seq.,  and  Our  Presidents  and 
How  We  Make  Them,  p.  180  to  181,  et  seq. 


THE  KEAL  LINCOLN  17 

Washington."  Lamon  was  (see  Appendix,  at  his 
name)  then  and  thereafter  to  the  end  of  his  life  the 
intimate  friend  of  Lincoln,  had  come  with  him  from 
Springfield,  and  was  chosen'  as  the  one  heavily- 
armed  companion  of  the  midnight  journey;  but  {Life 
of  Lincoln,  pp.  512-513)  he  expressly  declares  that 
^4t  is  perfectly  manifest  that  there  was  no  con- 
spiracy— no  conspiracy  of  a  hundred,  of  fifty,  of 
twenty,  of  three ;  no  definite  purpose  in  the  heart  of 
even  one  man  to  murder  Mr.  Lincoln  at  Baltimore." 
Dorothy  Lamon 's  book,  Recollections  of  Abraham 
Lincoln  hy  Ward  H.  Lamon,  though  its  object  seems 
to  be  (see  Appendix  at  name  of  Lamon)  to  conceal 
some  of  Lincoln's  most  evil  traits,  quotes  him  as  say- 
ing to  Lamon,  *^You  also  know  that  the  way  we 
skulked  into  this  city  in  the  first  place  has  been  a 
source  of  shame  and  regret  to  me,  for  it  did  look  so 
cowardly."  Horace  Greeley  {American  Conflict, 
Vol.  L,  p.  421)  likened  Lincoln  to  ^^a  hunted  fugi- 
tive." Ehodes  says  of  the  midnight  journey  {His- 
tory of  the  United  States,  Vol.  III.,  p.  304) :  ^^This 
drew  ridicule  from  his  enemies  and  expressions  of 
regret  from  many  of  his  well  wishers. "  Nicolay  and 
Hay  devote  a  chapter  (XX  of  Vol.  Ill)  to  it,  but  do 
not  claim  that  there  was  any  danger.  Morse,  as 
jealous  to  defend  Lincoln  as  any  other,  concedes 
that  there  was  no  danger  at  all,  and  that  **  Lamon 's 
account  of  it  .  .  .  is  doubtless  the  most  trust- 
worthy," and  records  Lincoln's  regret  and  shame 
for  what  he  had  done.' 

2  A.  K.  McClure's  Lincoln  and  Men  of  the  War  Time,  p.  46,  et  seq. 

^  See  Appendix  at  Morse's  name,  and  his  Life  of  Lincoln,  p.  197,   et  seq. 


18  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

Ida  Tarbell  describes  {McClure's  Magazine  for 
January  and  February,  1900)  Lincoln's  progress 
through  the  city  to  his  inaugural  ceremony — the 
strong  military  force,  including  artillery,  assembled 
to  protect  him — ** platoons  of  soldiers''  at  the  street 
corners,  ^^ groups  of  riflemen  on  the  housetops,"  and 
shows  how  he  passed  through  a  board  tunnel  into 
the  Capitol  building,  ^^with  fifty  or  sixty  soldiers 
under  the  platform,"  and  that  **two  batteries  of 
artillery  were  in  adjacent  streets  and  a  ring  of  vol- 
unteers surrounded  the  waiting  crowd."  Dr.  E. 
Benjamin  Andrews  (History  of  the  United  States, 
Vol.  Ill,  p.  324)  gives  nearly  the  same  account  but 
does  not  mention  the  tunnel. 

Schouler  says  (History  of  the  United  States,  Vol. 
VI,  p.  6,  et  seq.) :  ^^The  carriage  in  which  Lincoln 
and  Buchanan  came  and  returned  over  Pennsylvania 
Avenue  had  been  closely  guarded  in  front  and  rear 
by  a  military  escort  of  regulars  and  the  District 
militia.  Cavalry  detachments  protected  the  cross- 
ings at  the  great  squares;  skilled  riflemen  were 
posted  on  the  roofs  of  convenient  houses  mth  orders 
to  watch  windows  from  which  a  shot  might  be  fired. 
On  Capitol  Hill  the  private  entrance  and  exit  of  the 
presidential  party  was  through  a  covered  passage- 
way on  the  north  side,  lined  by  police,  with  trusted 
troops  near  by,  ....  with  a  battery  of  light 
artillery  on  the  brow  of  the  hill. "...  The  story 
of  the  midnight  journey  and  of  the  inauguration 
make  quite  comprehensible  what  Vice-President 
Hamlin  (Hamlin^ s  Life  of  Hamlin,  p.  389)  and  the 
above  quoted  historians   record  that  Lincoln  was 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  19 

bitterly  ashamed  ever  afterward  of  what  he  had  done 
on  these  two  occasions. 

When  Baltimore  had  stopped  the  Massachusetts 
soldiers,  and  Maryland  had  stopped  all  soldiers  go- 
ing to  Washington,  Ida  Tarbell,  Nicolay  and  Hay, 
Schouler  and  Ehodes,  give  singular  accounts  of  Lin- 
coln's state  of  apprehension.  Ehodes  and  Tarbell 
quote  his  words:  ^^Why  don't  they  come?  Why 
don't  they  come?  I  begin  to  believe  there  is  no 
North.  The  Seventh  Eegiment  is  a  myth. ' '  *  Schouler 
quotes  almost  the  same  words  {History  of  the  United 
States,  Vol.  VI,  p.  45).  Ehodes  says  he  was  **  nerv- 
ously apprehensive,"  and  sympathetic.  Ida  Tarbell 
says  the  words  were  uttered  ^4n  an  anguished  tone." 
Curtis 's  Life  of  Buchanan  gives  a  letter  of  Edwin 
M.  Stanton  to  the  Ex-President  describing  this  panic 
in  the  city,  which  he  says  (Vol.  II,  p.  547)  **was  in- 
creased by  the  reports  of  the  trepidation  of  Lin- 
coln."    .     .     . 

Eussell  wrote  {My  Diary,  North  and  South,  p.  43) 
in  Washington,  July  22d,  the  day  after  the  first 
Union  defeat  at  Bull  Eun^  *' General  Scott  is  quite 
overcome ;  .  .  .  General  McDowell  is  not  yet  ar- 
rived ;  the  Secretary  of  War  knows  not  what  to  do ; 
Mr.  Lincoln  is  equally  helpless ;"  and  again  he  wrote 
later  (p.  185)  that  Lincoln,  ** stunned  at  the  tremen- 
dous calamity,  sat  listening  in  fear  and  trembling 
for  the  sound  of  the  enemy's  cannon." 

In  the  second  great  panic  in  Washington,  when  the 
Union  Army  under  General  Pope  was  utterly  routed 

*  Rhodes'  History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  III.,  p.  368,  and  Tarbell  in 
McClure's   Magazine    for    February,    1899,    p.    325. 


20  THE  EEAL  LINCOLN 

and  close  on  Washington  in  retreat,  Gorham  and 
Rhodes  describe  Lincoln  in  such  distress  and  per- 
plexity as  to  say  to  Chase  and  Stanton,  of  his 
Cabinet,  that  '^he  would  gladly  resign  his  place. '^ 
General  B.  F.  Butler  censures  the  account  of  Lin- 
coln's condition  given  by  Nicolay  and  Hay,  as  fol- 
lows :  *^ A  careful  reading  of  that  description  would 
lead  one  to  infer  that  Lincoln  was  in  a  state  of  ab- 
ject fear.'''' 

Russell  says  {My  Diary ^  etc.,  p.  15)  that  in  March, 
1861,  in  Washington,  there  was  *  kittle  sympathy 
with,  and  no  respect  for,  the  newly-installed  govern- 
ment,*' and  that  ^Hhe  cold  shoulder  is  given  to  Mr. 
Lincoln,"  and  that  (p.  36)  ** personal  ridicule  and 
contempt  for  Mr.  Lincoln  prevail  in  Washington. ' ' 

The  Life  of  Charles  Francis  Adams  describes  (p. 
120,  et  seq.)  Adams's  visit  to  the  new  President  to 
get  his  instructions  as  Minister  to  England.  He  got 
none  whatever,  was  *^half  amused,  half  mortified, 
altogether  shocked,"  and  got  an  impression  of  ^* dis- 
may" at  Lincoln's  behavior  and  his  unconsciousness 
of  **the  gravity  of  the  crisis,"  or  his  insensibility  to 
it,  and  perceived  that  Lincoln  was  only  *  intent  on 
the  distribution  of  offices. ' '  The  biographer,  his  son, 
says  that  this  impression  had  not  faded  from  the 
mind  of  Mr.  Adams  twelve  years  later,  when  he  made 
a  Memorial  Address  on  the  death  of  Seward,  as  in- 
deed plainly  appears  in  that  address,  which  describes 
Lincoln  (p.  48,  et  seq,)  as  displaying  when  he  entered 


^  See  Gorham's  Life  of  Stanton,  Vol.  II.,  p.  44,  et  seq.;  Rhodes'  History  of 
the  United  States,  Vol.  IV.,  p.  137,  et  seq.,  and  p.  497;  and  Butler's  Book, 
p.  210. 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  21 

on  his  duties  as  President,  *^  moral,  intellectual,  and 
executive  incompetency/'  The  biographer  goes  on 
(p.  181,  et  seq.) :  ^^Seen  in  the  light  of  subsequent 
events,  it  is  assumed  that  Lincoln  in  1865  was  also 
the  Lincoln  of  1861.  Historically  speaking,  there 
can  be  no  greater  error.  The  President,  who  has 
since  become  a  species  of  legend,  was  in  March,  1861, 
an  absolutely  unknown,  and  by  no  means  promising, 
political  quantity;''  .  .  .  and  again,  ^^none  the 
less  the  fact  remains  that  when  he  first  entered  upon 
his  high  functions,  President  Lincoln  filled  with  dis- 
may those  brought  in  contact  with  him.  .  .  .  The 
evidence  is  sufficient  and  conclusive  that,  in  this 
respect,  he  impressed  others  as  he  impressed  Mr. 
Adams  in  this  one  characteristic  interview. "  ^  *  Dis- 
gust" is  the  word  used  by  Schouler  {History  of  the 
United  States,  Vol.  V,  p.  497)  to  indicate  the  impres- 
sion made  by  Lincoln  on  *  ^  the  members  of  the  Peace 
Conference"  when  they  paid  their  respects  to  the 
President  in  February,  1861.  Ehodes  refers  to  them 
scornfully  as  ** polished  patricians,"  but  it  would  be 
hard  to  name  more  competent  judges  in  the  matter 
than  they  were,  as,  for  example,  Ex-President  Tyler. 
A.  K.  McClure  says  (Lincoln  and  Men  of  the  War 
Time,  p.  123,  et  seq.) :  *^ Lincoln's  desire  for  a  re- 
nomination  was  the  one  thing  ever  apparent  in  his 
mind  during  the  third  year  of  his  Administration," 
and  he  draws  a  pitiful  picture  (pp.  113  to  115)  of 
Lincoln  as  he  saw  him  in  fits  of  abject  depression 
during  a  considerable  time  after  his  second  nomina- 
tion, when  he  and  all  the  leaders  of  the  Pepublican 
party  thought  his  defeat  inevitable.     McClure,  de- 


22  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

scribing  in  his  later  book,  (Our  Presidents  and  How 
We  Make  Them,  p.  184)  an  interview  with  Lincoln, 
says,  **A  more  anxious  candidate  I  have  never 
known.  ...  I  could  hardly  treat  with  respect 
his  anxiety  about  his  renomination ;  * '  and  gives  other 
details  betraying  contempt  for  Lincoln's  behavior. 
Fry,*  too,  tells  (Reminiscences  of  Lincoln,  etc.,  p. 
590)  of  *^a  craving  for  a  second  term  of  the  presi- 
dency," which  he  could  not  overcome,  and  confessed 
he  could  not,  and  quotes  Lincoln's  words,  ^^No  man 
knows  what  that  gnawing  is  till  he  has  had  it. ' ' 

Ehodes '  records  contempt  for  Lincoln  expressed 
by  his  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Salmon  P.  Chase, 
afterwards  made  by  Lincoln  Chief  Justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  and  says  that  Chase  **was  by  no 
means  alone  in  his  judgment,"  and  that  ^4n  many 
Senators  and  Eepresentatives  existed  a  distrust  of 
his  ability  and  force  of  character;"  and  he  further 
quotes  so  high  an  authority  as  Eichard  H.  Dana,  who 
said  in  a  letter  to  Thornton  Lothrop,  February  23, 
1863,  when  on  visit  to  Washington,  ^^The  lack  of 
respect  for  the  President  in  all  parties  is  uncon- 
cealed;" and  wrote  in  March,  1863,  to  Charles 
Francis  Adams,  Minister  to  England,  that  Lincoln 
**has  no  admirers,  .  .  .  and  does  not  act,  talk, 
or  feel  like  the  ruler  of  a  great  empire  in  a  great 

"Chapter  by  James  B.  Fry  in  Reminiscences  of  A.  Lincoln  by  Distinguished 
Men  of  His  Time,  collected  and  edited  by  Allen  Thorndyke  Rice  (N.  Y.  1886) 
p.  390.  The  full  quotation  is,  "I  observed  but  one  craving  that  he  (Lincoln) 
could  not  overcome;  that  was  for  a  second  term  of  the  presidency.  He  was 
fully  conscious  of  the  grip  this  desire  had  upon  him  and  once  said  in  the  way 
of  apology  for  it,  "No  man  knows  what  that  gnawing  is  till  he  has  had  it.*  ** 

''History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  IV.,  p.  205  to  210,  et  seq.,  and  note  on 
p.  210. 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  23 

crisis.  ...  If  a  Eepublican  convention  was  to 
be  held  tomorrow  he  would  not  get  the  vote  of  a 
State.  .  .  .  He  is  an  unspeakable  calamity  to 
us  where  he  is.'' 

No  heroic  trait  has  oftener  been  claimed  for  Lin- 
coln than  tenderness  of  heart.  General  Donn  Piatt 
(Reminiscences  of  Lincoln,  etc.,  pp.  486  to  489) 
denies  the  claim  made  for  Lincoln  that  he  was  *^of  a 
kind  or  forgiving  nature/'  or  of  any  gentle  impulses, 
and  shows  (p.  493)  his  extraordinary  insensibility  to 
the  ills  of  his  fellow-citizens  and  soldiers  when  the 
miseries  of  the  war  were  at  their  worst.  He  says 
(p.  486),  *^  There  is  a  popular  belief  that  Abraham 
Lincoln  was  of  so  kind  and  forgiving  a  nature  that 
his  gentler  impulses  interfered  with  his  duty. 
.  .  .  The  belief  is  erroneous.  ...  I  doubt 
whether  Mr.  Lincoln  had  at  all  a  kind,  forgiving 
nature.  ...  (p.  487).  I  heard  Secretary 
Seward  say  in  this  connection,  that  President  Lin- 
coln *had  a  cunning  that  was  genius.'  As  for  his 
steady  refusal  to  sanction  the  death  penalty  in  cases 
of  desertion,  there  was  far  more  policy  in  the  course 

than  fine  feeling As   Secretary  Chase 

said  at  the  time,  *Such  kindness  to  the  criminal  is 
cruelty  to  the  army,  for  it  encourages  the  cowardly 
to  leave  the  brave  and  patriotic  unsupported.'  " 
General  Piatt  says  referring  to  the  leading  members 
of  the  Cabinet,  Seward,  Chase,  and  Stanton,  '^  While 
all  these  were  eaten  into  and  weakened  by  anxiety, 
Lincoln  ate  and  slept  and  jested.  ...  (p.  493, 
et,  seq.)  He  faced  and  lived  through  the  awful  re- 
sponsibility of  the  situation  with  the  high  courage 


24  THE  KEAL  LINCOLN 

that  came  of  indifference.  At  the  darkest  period,  for 
us,  of  the  war,  when  the  enemy 's  cannon  were  throb- 
bing in  its  roar  along  the  walls  of  our  Capitol,  I 
heard  him  say  to  General  Schenck,  ^I  enjoy  my 
rations  and  sleep  the  sleep  of  the  innocent.'  ''  (P. 
484.) 

A  delicate  refinement  of  feeling  is  one  of  the  traits 
often  claimed  for  Lincoln.  What  he  was  capable  of 
in  his  dealings  with  women  is  conclusively  illustrated 
by  his  letter  to  Mrs.  Browning  about  Miss  Owens. 
Lamon  copies  it,  and  so  do  Herndon  and  Hapgood; 
Nicolay  and  Hay  concede  its  authenticity  in  trying 
to  make  light  of  it;  Hapgood  copies,  besides,  another 
letter,  in  which  Lincoln  asks  Miss  Owens  to  marry 
him.  Morse  calls  the  letter  to  Mrs.  Browning  *^one 
of  the  most  unfortunate  epistles  ever  penned,''  and 
elsewhere  calls  it  *Hhat  most  abominable  epistle." ' 

Acknowledging  that  he  had  lately  asked  Miss 
Owens  to  marry  him  and  had  been  refused  by  her, 
Lincoln  writes  to  Mrs.  Browning  that  one  of  his 
reasons  for  asking  her  to  marry  him  was  the  con- 
viction that  no  other  man  would  ever  do  so.  Lamon 
speaks  (page  181)  of  *4ts  coarse  exaggeration  in  de- 
scribing a  person  whom  the  writer  was  willing  to 
marry,  its  imputation  of  toothless  and  weather- 
beaten  old  age  to  a  woman  young  and  handsome." 

Evidence  of  the  marriage  of  Lincoln's  parents  has 
been  found  since  Lamon 's  Lincoln  was  published  in 
1872,  and  like  evidence  of  his  mother's  legitimate 

8  Lamon's  Life  of  Lincoln,  p.  181,  et  seq.,  and  Herndon's  Ahraham  Lincoln, 
Vol.  I.,  p.  55,  and  Hapgood's  Lincoln,  pp.  64  to  71,  and  Nicolay  and  Hay's 
Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  I.,  p.  192. 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  25 

birth  since  Hapgood's  Lincoln  was  published  in  1900. 
But  Lincoln  himself  was  capable  of  bringing  shame 
upon  the  birth  of  his  mother  to  escape  the  reproach 
of  being  of  the  unmixed  **poor  white"  blood  of  the 
Hanks  family.  Herndon  's  Lincoln  (Vol.  I,  p.  3 )  says : 
'*It  was  about  1850,  when  he  and  I  were  driving  in 
his  one-horse  buggy  to  the  court  in  Menard  county, 
Illinois.  ...  He  said  of  his  mother  .  .  .  . 
that  she  was  the  illegitimate  daughter  of  Lucy  Hanks 
and  of  a  well-bred  Virginia  farmer  or  planter,  and 
he  argued  that  from  this  last  source  came  his  power 
of  analysis,  his  mental  activity,  his  ambition,  and 
all  the  qualities  that  distinguished  him  from  the 
other  members  of  the  Hanks  family,  ....  and 
he  believed  that  his  better  nature  and  finer  qualities 
came  from  this  broad-minded,  unknown  Virginian. ' ' ' 

"  "Abraham  Lincoln,  a  North  Carolinian,  "With  Proof"  by  Dr.  J.  C.  Coggins 
(see  Appendix  A)  is  attracting  widespread  attention  because  of  startling  reve- 
lations it  purports  to  make  relative  to  the  parentage  of  Lincoln  and  the  place 
of  his  birth.  The  author  publishes  many  affidavits  from  old  people  in  support 
of  his  claim  that  Lincoln  was  not  born  in  Kentucky  but  in  Rutherford  county, 
North  Carolina.  A  similar  claim  is  made  by  James  H.  Cathey,  of  North 
Carolina,  in  a  book  published  a  few  years  ago  under  the  title,  "Truth  is 
Stranger  Than  Fiction;   True  Genesis  of  a  Wonderful  Man". 


CHAPTER  IV 

WAS  LINCOLN   A   CHRISTIAN? 

ALMOST  all  the  Christians  of  Springfield,  his 
-^^  home,  opposed  him  for  President.  He  was  an 
infidel,  and  **when  he  went  to  church,  he  went  to 
mock  and  came  away  to  mimic."  (Lamon's  **Life  of 
Lincoln,"  p.  487.)  He  wrote  and  talked  against  re- 
ligion in  the  most  shocking  words.  He  never  denied 
the  charge,  publicly  urged,  that  he  was  an  infidel. 
His  wife  and  closest  friends  attest  all  this.  He  be- 
came reticent  about  his  religious  views  when  he  en- 
tered political  life,  and  thereafter  indulged  freely  in 
pious  phrases  in  his  published  documents  and  pas- 
sionate expressions  of  piety  began  to  abound  in  his 
speeches;  but  he  never  denied  or  flinched  from  his 
religious  opinions  and  never  changed  them. 

As  to  Lincoln's  attitude  towards  religion.  Dr.  Hol- 
land in  his  Abraham  Lincoln,  says  (p.  286)  that 
twenty  out  of  the  twenty-three  ministers  of  the  dif- 
ferent denominations  of  Christians,  and  a  very 
large  majority  of  the  prominent  members  of  the 
churches  in  his  home,  Springfield,  Hlinois,  opposed 
him  for  President.  He  says  (page  241) :  .  .  . 
*^Men  who  knew  him  throughout  all  his  professional 
and  political  life"  have  said  *^that,  so  far  from  be- 
ing a  religious  man,  or  a  Christian,  the  less  said 
about  that  the  better."  He  says  of  Lincoln's  first 
recorded   religious   utterance,   used  in   closing  his 

26 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  27 

farewell  address  to  Springfield,  that  it  **was  re- 
garded by  many  as  an  evidence  both  of  his  weak- 
ness and  of  his  hypocrisy,  ....  and  was 
tossed  about  as  a  joke — 'old  Abe's  last.'  " 

Hapgood's  Lincoln  (page  291,  et  seq.)  records 
that  the  pious  words  with  which  the  Emancipation 
Proclamation  closes  were  added  at  the  suggestion 
of  Secretary  Chase,  and  so  does  Usher  (Reminis- 
cences of  Lincoln,  Sc,  p.  91),  and  so  does  Rhodes; 
and  Rhodes  shows  him  ''an  infidel,  if  not  an  athe- 
ist," and  adds,  "When  Lincoln  entered  political  life 
he  became  reticent  upon  his  religious  opinions." 
(History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  IV.  p.  213  et 
seq,).  Of  his  words  that  savor  of  religion,  Lamon 
says  (Life  of  Lincoln  p.  503) :  "If  he  did  not  be- 
lieve in  it,  the  masses  of  'the  plain  people'  did,  and 
no  one  was  ever  more  anxious  to  do  what  was  of 
good  report  among  men."  Lamon  further  says 
(page  497)    that  after  Mr.   Lincoln  "appreciated 

the  violence  and  extent  of  the  religious 

prejudices  which  freedom  of  discussion  from  his 
standpoint  would  be  sure  to  rouse  against  him," 
and  "the  immense  and  augmenting  power  of  the 

churches," (page   502),   "he 

indulged  freely  in  indefinite  expressions  about 
'Divine  Providence,'  'the  justice  of  God,'  the  'favor 
of  the  Most  High,'  in  his  published  documents,  but 
he  nowhere  ever  professed  the  slightest  faith  in 
Jesus  as  the  Son  of  God  and  the  Saviour  of  men." 
(Page  501,  et  seq.)  "He  never  told  any  one  that  he 
accepted  Jesus  as  the  Christ,  or  performed  one  of 
the  acts  which  necessarily  followed  upon  such  a  con- 


28  THE  KEAL  LINCOLN 

viction/'  .  .  .  ^^Wlien  he  went  to  cliiircli  at  all, 
lie  went  to  mock,  and  came  away  to  mimic.''  (Page 
487.)  Leland  says  (Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  II,  p.  55, 
et  seq.) :  .  .  .  *^It  is  certain  that  after  the  un- 
popularity of  free-thinkers  had  forced  itself  upon 
his  mind,  the  most  fervidly  passionate  expressions 
of  piety  began  to  abound  in  his  speeches.''  Lamon 
tells  in  detail  (Life  of  Lincoln,  p.  157,  et  seq.)  of  the 
writing  and  the  burning  of  a  ** little  book,"  written 
by  Lincoln  with  the  purpose  to  disprove  the  truth  of 
the  Bible  and  the  divinity  of  Christ,  and  tells  how  it 
was  burned  without  his  consent  by  his  friend  Hill, 
lest  it  should  ruin  his  political  career  before  a 
Christian  people.  He  says  that  Hill's  son  called  the 
book  *  infamous,"  and  that  *Hhe  book  was  burnt, 
but  he  never  denied  or  regretted  its  composition ;  on 
the  contrary,  he  made  it  the  subject  of  free  and  fre- 
quent conversations  with  his  friends  at  Springfield, 
and  stated  with  much  particularity  and  precision 
the  origin,  arguments,  and  object  of  the  work." 
Ehodes  {History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  IV,  p. 
213)  tells  the  same  story,  with  confirmation  in  an- 
other place.     (Vol.  Ill,  p.  368,  in  note.) 

Herndon  describes  the  *^ essay"  or  ^^book"  as  **an 
argument  against  Christianity,  striving  to  prove 
that  the  Bible  was  not  inspired,  and  therefore  not 
God's  revelation,  and  that  Jesus  Christ  was  not  the 
Son  of  God."  Herndon  says  that  Lincoln  intended 
to  have  the  ** essay"  published,  and  further  quotes 
one  of  Lincoln's  associates  of  that  day,  who  says 
that  Lincoln  ** would  come  into  the  clerk's  office 
where  I  and  some  young  men  were  writing,     .     .     . 


THE  EEAL  LINCOLN  29 

and  would  bring  a  Bible  with  him;  would  read  a 
chapter  and  argue  against  it."' 

A  letter  of  Herndon  (Lamon's  Lincoln,  p.  492,  et 
seq,)  says  of  Lincoln's  contest  with  the  Rev.  Peter 
Cartwright  for  Congress  in  1848  (page  404) :  **In 
that  contest  he  was  accused  of  being  an  infidel,  if 
not  an  atheist;  he  never  denied  the  charge;  would 
not;  ^ would  die  first,'  because  he  knew  it  could  be 
and  would  be  proved."  And  Lamon  further  says 
(page  499) :  '*The  following  extract  from  a  letter 
from  Mr.  Herndon  was  extensively  published 
throughout  the  United  States  about  the  time  of  its 
date,  February  18,  1870,  and  met  with  no  contradic- 
tion from  any  responsible  source:  *When  Lincoln 
was  a  candidate  for  our  Legislature,  he  was  accused 
of  being  an  infidel ;  of  having  said  that  Jesus  Christ 
was  an  illegitimate  child.  He  never  denied  the 
opinions  or  flinched  from  his  religious  views.'  " 

On  pages  487  to  514  Lamon 's  Lincoln  copies  num- 
erous letters  from  Lincoln's  intimate  associates,  one 
from  Davis,  ^  a  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and 
one  from  Lincoln's  wife,  that  fully  confirm  the  above 
as  to  his  attitude  of  hostility  to  religion.  Lamon 
copies  (Life  of  Lincoln,  p.  495)  another  letter  of 
Herndon,  as  follows:  **When  Mr.  Lincoln  left  this 
city" — Springfield,  Hlinois — **for  Washington,  I 
know  that  he  had  undergone  no  change  in  his  reli- 
gious opinions  or  views."  And  Lamon  gives  (page 
480)  a  letter  of  Nicolay,  his  senior  private  secretary 
throughout  his  Administration,  which  states  that  he 

^  Herndon's  Lincoln,  Vol.  III.,  p.  39,  et  seq.,  and  439,  et  seq.,  and  Lamon's 
Lincoln,  p.  492. 

*  The  Appendix  shows  that  ho  was  an  intimate  friend  of  Lincoln. 


30  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

perceived  no  change  in  Lincoln's  attitude  toward 
religion  after  his  entrance  on  the  presidency.  The 
Cosmopolitan,  of  March,  1901,  says  that  Nicolay 
**  probably  was  closer  to  the  martyred  President 
than  any  other  man ;  .  .  .  that  he  knew  Lincoln 
as  President  and  as  man  more  intimately  than  any 
other  man."     .     .     . 


CHAPTER  V 
Lincoln's  jokes  and  stories 

RHODES  is  everywhere  jealous  to  defend  Lin- 
-  coin,  but  he  thinks  fit  to  record  the  follomng 
{History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  IV,  p.  471,  note 
and  p.  518),  prefacing  it  with  the  statement  that  the 
World  was  then  the  organ  of  the  best  element  of 
the  Democratic  party;  that  the  New  YorJc  World, 
of  June  19,  1864,  called  Lincoln  **an  ignorant, 
boorish,  third-rate,  backwoods  lawyer,"  and  re- 
ported that  the  spokesman  of  a  delegation  sent  to 
carry  the  resolutions  of  a  screat  religious  organiza- 
tion to  the  President  publicly  denounced  him  as 
** disgracefully  unfit  for  the  high  office";  and  that  a 
Republican  Senator  from  New  York  was  reported 
to  have  left  the  President's  presence  because  his 
self-respect  would  not  permit  him  to  stay  and  listen 
to  the  language  he  employed.  Rhodes  further  sets 
down  '^a  tradition"  that  Andrew,  the  great  War 
Governor  of  Massachusetts,  when  pressing  a  matter 
he  had  at  heart,  went  away  in  disgust  at  being  put 
off  by  the  President  with  ' '  a  smutty  story. ' ' 

Dr.  Holland's  Abraham  Lincoln  says  of  the  in- 
decency of  his  jokes  and  stories:  '*It  is  useless  for 
Mr.  Lincoln's  biographers  to  ignore  this  habit;  the 
whole  West,  if  not  the  whole  country  (he  is  Avriting 
in  1866),  is  full  of  these  stories,  and  there  is  no 
doubt  at  all  that  he  indulged  in  them  with  the  same 

31 


32  THE  KEAL  LINCOLN 

freedom  that  he  did  in  those  of  a  less  objectionable 
character."  Again  he  says  (page  251):  .  .  . 
*^Men  who  knew  him  throughout  all  his  professional 
and  political  life  .  .  .  have  said  that  he  was 
the  foulest  in  his  jests  and  stories  of  any  man  in 
the  country." 

This  is  a  comprehensive  indictment  from  one  of 
Lincoln's  most  loving  worshippers,  as  is  shown  at 
Holland's  name  in  the  Appendix,  and  is  fully 
sustained  by  testimony  submitted  below  from  Morse, 
Hapgood,  Piatt,  Rhodes,  and — ^most  shocking  testi- 
mony of  all — from  Lamon  and  Herndon. 

Norman  Hapgood,  a  very  late  biographer  of 
Lincoln  (of  the  year  1900)  and  Morse,  the  next  latest 
(of  the  year  1892),  confirm  the  *^ revelations"  and 
the  *^ ghastly  exposures"  about  Lincoln  that  are 
described  below  as  recorded  by  Lamon  and  by 
Herndon.  Morse  says  that  a  necessity  and  duty 
rested  on  those  biographers  to  record  these  truths, 
as  they  both  claim  was  their  duty,  and  Hapgood 
says,  *' Herndon  has  told  the  President's  early  life 
with  refreshing  honesty  and  with  more  information 
than  any  one  else. ' '  ^ 

General  Donn  Piat  records  (Memories  of  the  Men 
who  Saved  the  Union,  p.  35)  an  occasion  when  he 
heard  Lincoln  tell  stories  *^no  one  of  which  will  bear 
printing."  Lamon  adds  to  all  this  his  testimony 
{Abraham  Lincoln,  pp.  480  and  430)  that  this  habit 
of  Lincoln's  ^^was  restrained  by  no  presence  and  no 
occasion,"  and  General  Piatt  refers  to  him  as  ^'the 

^  Hapgood's  Abraham  Lincoln,  Preface,  p.  8;  Morse's  Lincoln,  Vol.  I.,  p.  13 
and  p.  192,  et  seq. 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  33 

man  who  could  open  a  Cabinet  meeting  called  to 
discuss  the  Emancipation  Proclamation  by  reading 
aloud  Artemus  Ward, ' '  and  refers  to  Gettysburg  as 
^Hhe  field  that  he  shamed  with  a  ribald  song," 
^* Picayune  Bother,"  making  reference  to  a  song 
that  Lincoln  asked  for  and  got  sung  on  the  Gettys- 
burg battlefield  the  day  he  made  his  celebrated  ad- 
dress there.  (Nov.  20,  1863.)  This  behavior  has 
been  much  discussed  by  his  eulogists,  and  defended 
as  a  relief  necessary  for  a  nature  so  sensitive 
and  high -wrought. "  "^  ''Was  ever  so  sublime  a  thing 
ushered  in  by  the  ridiculous?"  says  Rhodes  {History 
of  the  United  States,  Vol.  lY,  p.  167).  The  mood 
in  which  Lincoln  issued  the  Proclamation  is  herein- 
after described  as  set  forth  by  his  eulogists. 

Herndon  gives  (Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  I,  p.  55, 
et  seq,)  a  copy  of  a  satire  written  by  Lincoln,  The 
First  Chronicle  of  Reuben,  and  an  account  of  the 
very  slight  provocation  under  which  Lincoln  wrote 
it,  and  in  two  footnotes  describes  the  exceedingly 
base  and  indecent  device  by  which  Lincoln  brought 
about  the  events  which  gave  opportunity  for  this 
satire ;  and  Herndon  copies  some  verses  written  and 
circulated  by  Lincoln  which  he  considers  even  more 
vile  than  the  ^^ Chronicle/'  Of  these  verses  Lamon 
says,  ''It  is  impossible  to  transcribe  them."  (Life 
of  Lincoln,  pages  63  and  64.)  Decency  does  not 
permit  the  publication  of  the  Chronicle  or  the  verses 
here. 

In  neither  of  A.  K.  McClure's  books,  Lincoln  and 
Men  of  the  War  Time,  published  in  1892,  or  Our 

"  Reminiscences  of  Lincoln,  dc,  p.  481,  et  seq.,  and  p.  485,  et  seq. 


34  THE  EEAL  LINCOLN 

Presidents  and  How  We  Mahe  Them,  published  in 
1900,  does  he  offer  any  contradiction  of  the  '^revela- 
tions'' and  *^ ghastly  disclosures''  that  Lamon  and 
Herndon  had  published  to  the  world  so  long  before, 
but  McClure  does  say  in  the  earlier  of  the  books,  in 
the  preface  (p.  2),  ''The  closest  men  to  Lincoln,  be- 
fore and  after  his  election  to  the  presidency,  were 
David  Davis,  Leonard  Swett,  Ward  H.  Lamon,  and 
William  H.  Herndon."  Letters  of  the  first  two 
named  are  among  the  letters  referred  to  above, 
published  by  Lamon  as  evidence  of  Lincoln's  atti- 
tude toward  religion. 

If  any  would  take  refuge  in  the  hope  that  the 
responsibilities  of  his  high  office  raised  Lincoln  above 
these  habits  of  indecency,  they  are  met  by  authentic 
stories  of  his  grossly  unseemly  behavior  as  Presi- 
dent by  the  evidence  of  Lamon,  the  chosen  associate 
of  his  life  time,  as  given  above,  that  his  indulgence 
in  gross  jokes  and  stories  was  "restrained  by  no 
presence  and  no  occasion." 


CHAPTER  VI 

ESTIMATES   OF  LINCOLN 

THE  evidence  thus  far  submitted  concerns  chiefly 
the  personal  character  of  Lincoln.  Let  us  pro- 
ceed to  consider  evidence  to  show  that  his  conduct 
of  public  affairs  provoked  the  bitterest  censure  from 
a  very  great  number  of  the  most  conspicuous  of 
his  co-laborers  in  his  achievements. 

A.  K.  McClure  says  (Lincoln  and  Men  of  the  War 
Time,  p.  51)  of  Lincoln,  ^^If  he  could  only  have  com- 
manded the  hearty  co-operation  of  the  leaders  of 
his  own  party,  his  task  would  have  been  greatly 
lessened,  but  it  is  due  to  the  truth  of  history  to  say 
that  few,  very  few,  of  the  Republicans  of  national 
fame  had  faith  in  Lincoln's  ability  for  the  trust 
assigned  to  him.  I  could  name  a  dozen  men,  now* 
idols  of  the  nation,  whose  open  distrust  of  Lincoln 
not  only  seriously  embarrassed,  but  grievously 
pained  and  humiliated  him." 

Ben  Perley  Poore  shows  (Reminiscences  of  Lin- 
coln, Sc.j  p.  348)  Henry  Ward  Beecher's  censures 
of  Lincoln,  and  so  do  Beecher's  editorials  in  the 
Independent  of  1862,  of  which  Beecher  says  himself 
(Reminiscences  of  Lincoln,  &c,,  p.  249)  .  .  . 
^Hhey  bore  down  on  him  very  hard."  Beecher's 
contemptuous  censures  are  recorded  by  Rhodes,  too 
(History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  IV,  p.  462) ;  and 

*McClure's  title  page  is  dated  1892. 

35 


36  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

he  shows,  besides,  that  Senator  Wilson,  of  Masachn- 
setts,  was  among  the  great  body  of  leading  Re- 
publicans who,  as  will  be  shown,  bitterly  opposed 
Lincoln's  renomination  for  President  in  1864.  He 
says,  too,  of  Wilson  that  his  open  assaults  were 
amazing;  .  .  .  that  he  was  loud  and  bitter  even 
in  the  President's  house. 

Hapgood  quotes  (Ahraham  Lincoln,  p.  164)*  Wen- 
dell Phillips  about  Lincoln:  *^Who  is  this  huxter 
in  politics?  Who  is  this  county  court  lawyer?" 
Morse,  too,  gives  (Lincoln,  YoL  I,  p.  177)  severe  cen- 
sures of  Lincoln  by  Wendell  Phillips.  A.  K.  McClure 
(Lincoln  and  Men  of  the  War  Time,  p.  117,  and  p. 
259  and  p.  54,  et  seq,,  and  p.  104)  records  bitter  cen- 
sure of  him  by  Thaddeus  Stevens,  and  shows  the 
hostility  to  Lincoln  of  Sumner,  Trumbull,  Ben 
Wade,  and  Chandler,  and  of  his  Vice-President, 
Hamlin.  Ida  Tarbell"  calls  Senator  Sumner,  Ben 
Wade,  Henry  Winter  Davis,  and  Secretary  Chase 
^^ malicious  foes  of  Lincoln,"  and  makes  the  remark- 
able and  comprehensive  concession  that  *^  about  all 
the  most  prominent  leaders  .  .  .  were  actively 
opposed  to  Lincoln,"  and  mentions  Greeley  as 
their  chief. 

Fremont,  who  eight  years  before  had  received 
every  Eepublican  vote  for  President,  charged  Lin- 
coln (Holland's  Ahraham  Lincoln,  p.  259,  p.  469, 
and  p.  471)  with  ^ incapacity  and  selfishness,"  with 
^^ disregard  of  personal  rights,"  with  ** violation  of 
personal  liberty  and  liberty   of  the  press,"  with 

^  McClure's   Magazine,   Vol.    XIII.,    for    July,    1899,    p.    277,    and   for    July, 
1899,  p.  218,  et  seq. 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  37 

*^feebleness  and  want  of  principle'';  and  says: 
**The  ordinary  rights  under  the  Constitution  and 
laws  of  the  country  have  been  violated,"  and  he 
further  accuses  Lincoln  of  **  managing  the  war  for 
personal  ends." 

Dr.  Holland  shows  (Abraham  Lincoln,  p.  469,  et 
seq.)  that  Fremont,  Wendell  Phillips,  Fred  Doug- 
lass, and  Greeley  were  leaders  in  a  very  nearly  suc- 
cessful effort  to  defeat  Lincoln's  second  nomination, 
and  quotes  as  follows,  action  of  the  convention  for 
that  purpose  held  in  Cleveland,  May  21,  1864,  that 
'^the  public  liberty  was  in  danger";  that  its  object 
was  to  arouse  the  people,  ''and  bring  them  to  real- 
ize that,  while  we  are  saturating  Southern  soil  with 
the  best  blood  of  the  country  in  the  name  of  liberty, 
we  have  really  parted  with  it  at  home." 

Colonel  Theodore  Eoosevelt,  in  a  speech  at  Grand 
Rapids,  September  8,  1900,  said  that  in  1864  *'on 
every  hand  Lincoln  was  denounced  as  a  tyrant,  a 
shedder  of  blood,  a  foe  to  liberty,  a  would-be  dic- 
tator, a  founder  of  an  empire — one  orator  saying, 
*We  also  have  our  emperor,  Lincoln,  who  can  tell 
stale  jokes  while  the  land  is  running  red  with  the 
blood  of  brothers.'  Even  after  Lincoln's  death  the 
assault  was  kept  up." 

A.  K.  McClure  {Lincoln  and  Men  of  the  War 
Time,  p.  54),  recording  the  hostile  attitude  toward 
Lincoln  of  the  leading  members  of  the  Cabinet, 
makes  a  concession  as  comprehensive  as  Miss  Tar- 
bell's  above:  ''Outside  of  the  Cabinet  the  leaders 
were  equally  discordant  and  quite  as  distrustful  of 
the  ability  of  Lincoln  to  fill  his  great  office.     Sum- 


38  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

ner,  Trumbull,  Chandler,  Wade,  Winter  Davis,  and 
the  men  to  whom  the  nation  then  turned  as  the 
great  representative  men  of  the  new  political  power, 
did  not  conceal  their  distrust  of  Lincoln,  and  he  had 
little  support  from  them  at  any  time  during  his 
administration";  and  McClure  says  again  (p.  289, 
et  seq.) :  ** Greeley  was  a  perpetual  thorn  in  Lin- 
coln's side  .  .  .  and  almost  constantly  criticized 
him  boldly  and  often  bitterly.  ,  .  .  Greeley  la- 
bored (p.  296)  most  faithfully  to  accomplish  Lin- 
coln's overthrow  in  his  great  struggle  for  re-election 
in  1864.''  (Morse's  Lincoln,  Vol.  II,  p.  193.)  And 
Edward  Everett  Hale  shows  (James  Russell  Lowell 
and  His  Friends,  p.  178,  et  seq.)  that  even  the  cir- 
cumstances of  Lincoln's  death  did  not  for  a  day 
abate  Greeley's  reprobation. 

The  careful  reader  will  not  fail  to  observe  that 
Lincoln's  first  term  of  four  years  was  at  this  time 
nearly  over,  so  that  all  this  bitter  censure  from  his 
associates  was  based  on  full  knowledge  of  him. 

Very  few  other  persons,  if  any,  were  so  competent 
to  estimate  Lincoln's  character  as  the  three  great 
leaders  in  his  Cabinet,  Seward,  Stanton  and  Chase, 
whose  testimony  we  are  now  to  examine;  certainly 
no  others  had  so  good  an  opportunity  to  form  an 
estimate. 

Secretary  Seward's  estimate  of  Lincoln  is  fur- 
nished by  Ida  Tarbell,'  as  follows:  *^A  less  obvious 
perplexity  than  the  office-seekers  for  Mr.  Lincoln," 
when  he  entered  on  his  duties,  ^  though  not  a  less 
real  one,  was  the  attitude  of  his  Secretary  of  State 

^  McClure's  Magazine  for  March,   1899,  p.  448,   et  seq. 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  39 

— his  (Seward's)  cheerful  assumption  that  he,  not 
Mr.  Lincoln,  was  the  final  authority  of  the  Admin- 
istration; ...  he  believed  (p.  267),  as  many 
Eepublicans  did,  that  Lincoln  was  unfit  for  the 
presidency,  and  that  some  one  of  his  associates 
would  be  obliged  to  assume  leadership  ...  a 
sort  of  dictatorship;  that  if  he,  Seward  were  ab- 
sent eight  days  .  .  .  the  Administration  .  .  . 
would  fall  into  consternation  and  despair."  And 
Ida  Tarbell  quotes  from  Seward's  letters  to  his 
wife  at  the  time  full  proof  of  this. 

Seward  has  been  much  criticised  and  accused  of 
rare  presumption  for  a  letter  that  he  wrote  to  the 
President,  as  Secretary  of  State,  one  month  after 
his  first  inauguration,  because  the  letter  manifested 
a  sense  of  superiority  and  condescendingly  offered 
his  advice  and  aid  and  leadership.  It  is  possible 
that  Seward  did  feel  some  of  the  contempt  for  Lin- 
coln that  his  brethren  in  the  Cabinet,  Chase  and 
Stanton,  never  ceased  to  express  freely  for  Lincoln 
throughout  their  long  terms  of  office  and  very  fre- 
quently showed  to  his  face,  as  is  shown  below.  Like 
them.  Governor  Seward  was  a  man  of  the  highest 
social  standing,  and  of  large  experience  in  the  high- 
est public  functions.  The  Lincoln  whom  so  many 
now  call  a  hero  and  a  saint  is  exceedingly  different 
from  the  Lincoln  that  the  people  who  came  in  con- 
tact with  him  knew  up  to  the  time  of  his  death,  as 
is  frankly  avowed  in  this  sketch  by  Adams  and 
Piatt,  and  reluctantly  conceded  by  Crittenden  and 
Rhodes.  What  he  was  capable  of  in  personal  habits, 
manners,  and  morals  has  been  shown  in  the  account 


40  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

of  the  ^^ First  Chronicle  of  Reuben/'  and  his  sub- 
mission to  humiliations  such  as  are  described  below, 
and  elsewhere  in  this  book,  from  such  men  as  Se- 
ward, Stanton,  Chase,  and  General  McClellan,  is 
not  at  all  unaccountable. 

Few  were  more  ardent  Abolitionists  than  Seward, 
as  shown  in  Bancroft's  late  life  of  him,  but  he  was 
no  tyro  in  statecraft,  and  knew  the  exceedingly 
small  number  of  voters  in  the  United  States  who 
would  hear  patiently  of  abolition.*  The  policy  Se- 
ward so  authoritatively  suggested  was — to  use  the 
very  words  of  his  letter' — **to  change  the  question 
before  the  public  from  one  upon  Slavery  for  a  ques- 
tion upon  Union  or  Disunion."  Lincoln  at  once 
adopted  that  policy,  as  shown  in  Chapter  X  of  this 
book,  and  by  means  of  it  precipitated  the  war." 
Its  astuteness  in  distracting  men's  minds  from  the 
matter  of  slavery  has  been  much  commended,  and 
Seward  might  well  say,  as  he  did,*  that  Lincoln  ''had 
a  cunning  that  was  genius."  (Gen.  Donn  Piatt. 
See  p.  23  of  this  book.) 

How  successfully  the  issue  was  changed  is  proved 
in  a  quotation  from  Lowell  by  Scudder  (Atlantic 
Monthly  for  February,  1861),  as  follows :  ''Slavery 
is  no  longer  the  matter  in  debate,  and  we  must  be- 
ware of  being  led  off  on  that  issue.  The  matter  now 
in  hand  is  .  .  .  the  reaffirmation  of  National 
Unity. ' '    Yet  Lowell  was  an  ardent  Abolitionist,  and 

*  General  Butler  says  in  Butler's  Book,  p.  293,  that  as  late  as  July,  1861, 
no  one  in  power  was  in  favor  of  emancipation. 

^  William  Elery  Curtis  says  in  his  True  Lincoln,  p.  204,  an  ardent  eulogy, 
published  in  1903,  that  this  letter  of  Seward's  did  not  come  to  light  till  "nearly 
thirty  years  after." 

^Reminiscences  of  Lincoln,  <£c.,  Allen  Thorndike  Rice,  N.  Y.,    1886,  p.  487. 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  41 

not  an  admirer  of  Lincoln,  as  will  be  shown  at  p. 
(7-8)  of  this  book,  until  long  after  this;  not,  indeed, 
until  Lincoln  ^s  Apotheosis  began,  the  Commemora- 
tion Ode  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. 

A.  K.  McClure  says  (Lincoln  and  Men  of  the  War 
Time,  p.  151,  et  seq.) :  *^  Secretary  Stanton  had  been 
in  open  malignant  opposition  to  the  Administration 
only  a  few  months  before/'  (This  was  in  January, 
1862.)  **  Stanton  often  spoke  of  and  to  public  men, 
military  and  civil,  with  a  withering  sneer.  I  have 
heard  him  scores  of  times  thus  speak  of  Lincoln 
and  several  times  thus  speak  to  Lincoln."  .  .  . 
** After  Stanton's  retirement  from  the  Buchanan 
Cabinet,  when  Lincoln  was  inaugurated,  he  main- 
tained the  closest  confidential  relations  with  Bu- 
chanan, and  wrote  him  many  letters  expressing  the 
utmost  contempt  for  Lincoln.  .  .  .  These  let- 
ters, .  .  .  given  to  the  public  in  Curtis 's  Life  of 
Buchanan,  speak  freely  of  the  painful  imbecility  of 
Lincoln,  the  venality  and  corruption  which  ran  riot 
in  the  Government";  and  McClure  goes  on:  ^*It  is 
an  open  secret  that  Stanton  advised  the  revolu- 
tionary overthrow  of  the  Lincoln  government,  to  be 
replaced  by  General  McClellan  as  Military  Dictator. 
.  .  .  These  letters,  published  by  Curtis,  bad  as 
they  are,  are  not  the  worst  letters  written  by  Stan- 
ton to  Buchanan.  Some  of  them  are  so  violent  in 
their  expression  against  Lincoln  .  .  .  that  they 
have  been  charitably  withheld  from  the  public." 

Hapgood  refers  (Abraham  Lincoln,  p.  164)  to 
Stanton's  ** brutal  absence  of  decent  personal  feel- 
ing" towards  Lincoln,  and  tells  (p.  254)  of  Stan- 


42  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

ton's  insulting  behavior  when  they  met  five  years 
earlier,  of  which  meeting  Stanton  said  that  he  *^had 
met  him  at  the  bar  and  found  him  a  low,  cunning 
clown."  See  also  Ben  Perley  Poore  in  Reminis- 
cences of  Lincoln,  dc,  p.  223.  Morse  says  {Lincoln, 
Vol.  I,  p.  327)  that  Stanton  *^  carried  his  revilings 
of  the  President  to  the  point  of  coarse  personal  in- 
sults," and  refers  (p.  326)  to  his  ^^ habitual  insults." 
Yet  to  a  man  of  President  Buchanan's  character 
and  standing  Stanton  showed  an  excess  of  defer- 
ence; for  Mr.  Buchanan  complained  in  a  letter  to 
his  niece.  Miss  Harriet  Lane  ( Curtis 's  Life  of 
Buchanan,  Vol.  II,  p.  533),  that  Stanton,  when  in 
his  Cabinet,  *^was  always  on  my  side  and  flattered 
me  ad  nauseam/' 

Schouler  says  of  Stanton  {History  of  the  United 
States,  Vol.  VI,  p.  159),  ^^He  denounced  Lincoln  in 
confidential  speeches  and  letters  as  a  coward  and  a 
fool." 

Of  Secretary  Chase,  A.  K.  McClure  says  (Lin- 
coln and  Men  of  the  War  Time,  p.  8),  *^ Chase  was 
the  most  irritating  fly  in  the  Lincoln  ointment."  Ida 
Tarbell  says  (McClure' s  Magazine  for  January, 
1899),  *^But  Mr.  Chase  was  never  able  to  realize 
Mr.  Lincoln's  greatness."  Nicolay  and  Hay  say 
(Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  IX,  p.  389,  Vol.  VI,  p*.  264) 
of  Chase,  * '  Even  to  complete  strangers  he  could  not 
write  without  speaking  slightingly  about  the  Presi- 
dent. He  kept  up  this  habit  to  the  end  of  Lincoln's 
life."  ....  ^^But  his  attitude  towards  the 
President,  it  is  hardly  too  much  to  say,  was  one 
which  varied  between  the  limits  of  active  hostility 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  43 

and  benevolent  contempt."  Yet  none  rate  Chase 
higher  than  Nicolay  and  Hay  do  for  character, 
talent,  and  patriotism.  Rhodes  says  {History  of  the 
United  States,  Vol.  IV,  pp.  205  and  210)  that 
Chase's  *^ opinion  of  Lincoln's  parts  was  not  high," 
and  that  he  **  dealt  unrestrained  censure  of  the 
President's  conduct  of  the  war." 


CHAPTER  VII 

DID  LINCOLN  EVER  INTEND  THAT  THE   MASTERS  BE  PAID 
FOR  THEIR  SLAVES? 

CONSPICUOUS  among  the  baseless  claims  made 
for  Lincoln  is  the  allegation  that  he  proposed 
and  really  had  the  purpose  to  compensate  the  mas- 
ters for  emancipation  of  their  negroes.  Rhodes  sets 
forth  the  plan  {History  of  the  United  States,  Vol. 
Ill,  p.  631),  and  there  and  elsewhere  labors  to 
vindicate  the  claim,  but  he  shows  by  a  letter  of 
Lincoln's  (p.  632)  that  Lincoln  did  not  himself  ex- 
pect that  it  could  take  any  effect  anywhere  but  in 
Delaware,  Kentucky,  Missouri,  and  the  District  of 
Columbia.  And  Rhodes  acknowledges  that  it  did 
take  effect  nowhere  but  in  the  District  of  Columbia, 
and  there  with  compensation  to  *4oyaP'  masters 
only.  He  further  explains  (Vol.  IV,  p.  218)  that 
the  slaveholders  of  the  Border  States  were  saved 
from  any  temptation  to  accept  what  was  offered  by 
*Hhe  belief  that  it  was  impossible  for  the  North  to 
conquer  the  South."'  Rhodes  goes  on  to  say  that 
the  alternative  was  **  separation  of  the  sections  with 
strong  guarantees  for  slavery  in  the  Border  States 
which  remained  with  the  North;  that  the  remark 
which  it  is  said  Lincoln  made  to  Crittenden,  *You 
Southern  men  will  soon  reach  the  point  where  bonds 

1  That  Lincoln's  belief   then   was   the   same   is   shown   abundantly   elsewhere 
in  this  book,  and  that  fact  bears  strongly  on  his  claim  for  credit. 

44 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  45 

will  be  a  more  valuable  possession  than  bondsmen,' 
was  far  from  a  self-evident  proposition  in  February, 
1863;  in  truth,  the  reverse  was  the  estimate  of  the 
Democrats. '^  And  Rhodes  says  further  (Vol.  IV, 
p.  68),  that  **one  other  objection  must  have  weighed 
with  them.  ...  It  was  a  part  of  the  plan  that 
payment  for  the  slaves  should  be  made  in  United 
States  bonds ;  and  while  negro  property  had  become 
notoriously  precarious,  the  question  must  have  sug- 
gested itself  whether,  in  view  of  the  enormous  ex- 
penditures of  the  Government,  the  recent  military 
reverses,  and  the  present  strength  of  the  Confeder- 
acy, the  nation's  promises  to  pay  were  any  more 
valuable."  And  Rhodes  goes  on  still:  ^^The  whole 
conquered  part,  at  least,  could  be  counted  on  to  resist 
a  payment  from  which  themselves  were  excluded 
— any  computation  of  the  amount  to  which  their 
slaves  added  would  bring  the  compensation  will 
show  that  no  one  could  ever  dream  of  including 
them."  Rhodes  quotes  from  McPherson^s  Political 
History  the  answers,  to  the  above  effect,  given  by 
**a  majority  of  the  Representatives  in  Congress  of 
Kentucky,  Virginia,  Missouri,  and  Maryland,"  who 
gave  as  an  additional  reason  that  they  **did  not 
think  the  war  for  the  Union  could  possibly  hold  out 
another  year,  or  that  the  offer  would  be  carried  out 
in  good  faith;  .  .  .  that  they  doubted  the  sin- 
cerity of  Congress ""  in  making  the  offer. ' '  Referring 
to  what  he  calls  ** current  expressions"  of  opinion 
in  England,  Rhodes  says  (p.  79,  et  seq.) :  *^ Lincoln's 
plan  of  compensated  emancipation  was  pronounced 

'  And  Rhodes  concedes  that  he  does,  too. 


46  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

chimerical,  and  its  purpose  insincere,"  and  that  it 
was  ^  issued  for  the  purpose  of  affecting  European 
opinion.''  Ehodes'  desire  to  vindicate  his  hero's 
claim  betrays  him  into  inconsistencies.  Ida  Tar- 
bell,  with  even  greater  zeal,  calls  Lincoln's  plan 
for  emancipating  the  slaves  ^^  simple,  just,  and 
impracticable,"  and  says'  *^ nothing  ever  came 
of  it."     .... 

Henry  J.  Kaymond  says,*  ^^The  bill  was  referred 
to  a  committee,  but  no  action  was  taken  upon  it  in 
Congress,  nor  did  any  of  the  Border  States  respond 
to  the  President 's  invitation. ' '  And  Ehodes  gives  a 
similar  account  of  it. 

Boutwell  says,'  *^It  is  not  probable  that  Mr. 
Lincoln  entertained  the  opinion  Hhat  these  mea- 
sures, one  or  all,  would  secure  the  abolition  of 
slavery.'  " 

Gorham  shows  (Life  of  Edwin  M,  Stanton,  p. 
185)  his  impression  of  Lincoln's  purpose,  as  fol- 
lows: *^The  result  of  this  so-called  Border-State 
policy  seems  to  have  been  meagre  in  the  way  of 
proselyting  slaveholders  to  the  Union  cause." 

A.  K.  McClure  {Lincoln  and  Men  of  the  War 
Time,  p.  223)  and  Nicolay  and  Hay  (Abraham 
Lincoln,  Vol.  X,  p.  132)  tell  of  Lincoln's  offering  to 
his  Cabinet  a  written  plan  for  emancipation  with 
compensation  to  the  amount  of  $400,000,000,  which 
plan  was  unanimously  disapproved  by  the  Cabinet. 
Like  the  paper  elsewhere  described  in  this  book, 
which  expressed  Lincoln's  purposes  in  view  of  the 

^  McClure' s  Magazine,  Vol.  XII.,  April,   1899,  p.  525. 
*  Life  and  Public  Services  of  President  Lincoln,  p.  239. 
^Abraham  Lincoln  Tributes  from  His  Associates,  p.  86. 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  47 

almost  certainly  expected  election  of  McClellan  to 
the  presidency,  this  plan  for  emancipation  was 
sealed  up  by  Lincoln  and  committed  to  the  care  of 
one  of  the  Cabinet  members,  and  this  would  seem 
the  only  purpose  with  which  it  could  have  been 
prepared.  Rhodes  quotes  {History  of  the  United 
States  J  Vol.  IV,  p.  407  and  p.  409)  an  account  of 
the  matter  in  Lincoln's  own  words,  published  in  a 
letter  which  Rhodes  says  *^may  be  called  a  stump 
speech, '*  as  follows:  *^I  suggested  compensation, 
to  which  you  answered  that  you  wished  not  to  be 
taxed  to  buy  negroes. '^ 

It  will  be  seen  that  after  Lincoln's  failure  thus  to 
secure  the  support  of  the  Border  States,  he  fell  into 
despair,  until  new  measures  were  devised  to  enlarge 
his  powers  and  force  on  the  people  his  re-election. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

OPPOSITION   TO   ABOLITION   BEFOKE   THE   WAR 

BEFORE  treating  the  subject  indicated  by  the 
heading  of  this  chapter,  it  is  convenient  to 
state  here  precisely  a  widespread,  erroneous  belief 
which  this  book  undertakes  to  correct. 

The  impression  upon  the  minds  of  thousands  of 
people  about  the  War  Between  the  States  may  be 
formulated  as  follows :  That  at  the  firing  upon  Fort 
Sumter,  the  people  of  the  Northern  States  rose  with 
one  mind,  and  for  the  four  years  of  the  war  un- 
grudgingly poured  forth  their  treasure  and  shed 
their  blood  to  re-establish  the  Union  and  to  free  the 
slaves.  Let  us  consider  how  much  foundation  there 
is  for  this  popular  impression. 

In  order  to  show  the  enormous  difficulties  over- 
come by  their  hero,  Lincoln,  in  accomplishing  his 
two  notable  achievements,  his  eulogists  have  fur- 
nished much  evidence  that  shows  that  both  the 
coercion  of  the  South  and  the  emancipation  of  the. 
negroes  were  accomplished  against  the  will  of 
the  Democratic  party  and  of  no  small  part  of  the 
Republican  party  in  the  North  and  West,  and  their 
evidence  to  that  effect  will  now  be  submitted. 

As  there  had  been  agitation  of  abolition  long  be- 
fore any  one  ever  suggested  seriously  the  possibility 
of  coercion  in  case  States  should  secede,  as  was  not 
seldom  threatened,  not  in  the  South  only,  but  by 

48 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  49 

New  England  earlier  and  quite  as  earnestly,  it  is 
best  to  consider  first  how  far  the  North  and  West 
approved  of  abolition. 

Dr.  E.  Benjamin  Andrews  records  the  facf  that 
abolition  was  opposed  by  an  overwhelming  majority 
of  the  Northern  people  and  the  Western  people,  not 
only  down  to  the  war,  but  during  the  whole  of  it, 
and  as  long  as  opposition  to  it  was  at  all  safe. 
Bitter  as  his  reprobation  of  this  public  sentiment 
is,  he  frankly  concedes  it,  and  says  that  between 
1830  and  1840  ^^  there  was  hardly  a  place  of  any 
size  where  any  one  could  advocate  emancipation, 
and  that  in  1841  there  were  but  two  pronounced 
anti-slavery  men  in  the  House  of  Representatives. 
The  Eev.  Edward  Everett  Hale  says,'  ^^As  lately 
as  when  I  left  college,  in  1839,  my  classmate,  the 
Eev.  William  Francis  Channing,  was,  I  think,  the 
only  man  in  our  class  who  would  have  permitted 
himself  to  be  called  an  Abolitionist.  I  should  not, 
I  am  sure.'' 

The  Life  of  Charles  Francis  Adams ^  by  his  son 
of  the  same  name,  records  (p.  29)  that  Garrison  was 
mobbed  in  Boston  in  1835  for  being  an  Abolitionist. 
See,  also,  page  33  and  page  58.  Page  105  and  there- 
after shows  how  ill-esteemed  and  shabby  the  Ee- 
publican  party  in  Washington  was  as  late  as  1859. 
In  Edward  Everett  Hale's  lately  published  book, 
*' James  Russell  Lowell,  etc./^  he  names  (page  22, 

*  Andrews'  History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  II.,  p.  15.  It  describes  be- 
sides the  destruction  of  charitable  schools  for  negroes  and  even  of  their 
homes,  by  people  regarded  as  the  most  respectable  classes  of  society  in  Con- 
necticut and  elsewhere  in  New  England  and  the  prohibition  by  laws  of  schools 
for  negro  children. 

*  Memories  of  a  Hundred  Years,  in  the  Outlook  for  August  2,   1902,  p.  872. 


50  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

et  seq,)  a  classmate  who  was,  he  thinks,  the  only 
Abolitionist  in  Harvard  College  in  1838,  and  says 
(p.  21),  *^ Boston,  as  Boston,  hated  Abolitionism'' 
as  the  stevedores  and  longshoremen  .  .  .  hated 
*^a  nigger;''  that  Dr.  Palfrey,  once  of  the  Divinity 
Faculty  of  Harvard,  **like  most  men  with  whom 
he  lived,  had  opposed  the  Abolitionists  with  all  his 
might,  his  voice,  and  his  pen;"  and  he  adds  that 
**the  conflict  at  the  outset  was  not  a  crusade  against 
slavery."  James  Russell  Lowell  said  (Scudder's 
Life  of  Lowell,  Vol.  I,  p.  187)  that  '^when  Garrison 
showed  strength  in  his  agitation  against  slavery 
.  .  .  a  prolonged  shriek  of  execration  and  horror 
quavered  from  the  Aroostook  to  the  Red  river." 
The  prominent  place  now  given  in  Longfellow's 
works  to  his  Abolition  poems  does  not  prepare  us 
to  hear  from  Scudder  {Life  of  Loivell,  Vol.  I,  p.  183) 
that  the  well-known  Philadelphia  publishers,  Gary 
&  Hart,  brought  out  a  handsomely  illustrated  vol- 
ume of  Longfellow's  works  from  which  this  group 
of  poems  was  omitted,  and  on  the  same  page  is  a 
letter  of  Lowell's  in  which  he  refers  to  ** Long- 
fellow's suppression  of  his  anti-slavery  pieces."' 
Schouler  says  {History  of  the  United  States y  Vol. 
VI,  p.  216),  *^  Scarcely  had  an  American  bard 
struck  his  lyre  to  another  chord  of  patriotism  save 
the  courageous  Whittier;"  .  .  .  and  again  (p. 
337,  et  seq.),  *' Hawthorne  died,  despondent  of  his 
country,  in  1864.  Of  our  galaxy  of  great  poets 
Whittier  alone  could  forge  fitly  in  such  a  lurid 
flame." 

3  For  Lowell's  own  attitude,  see  page  (7-8)   of  this  book. 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  51 

The  Rev.  Henry  Ward  Beecher  said  in  an  address 
to  the  people  of  Manchester,  England,*  that  in  the 
North  ** Abolitionists  were  rejected  by  society, 
.  .  .  blighted  in  political  life;''  that  to  be  called 
an  Abolitionist  caused  a  merchant  to  be  avoided  as 
if  he  had  the  plague ;  that  the  * '  doors  of  confidence 
were  closed  upon  him"  in  the  church.  Dr.  Holland 
says  (Abraham  Lincoln,  p.  67)  that  in  1830  the  pre- 
vailing sentiment  of  Illinois  was  *4n  favor  of 
slavery  ;'*  .  .  .  **the  Abolitionist  was  despised 
by  both  parties."  And  George  William  Curtis  re- 
proaches his  own  people  (Orations  and  Addresses, 
Vol.  I,  p.  146)  as  follows:  ^^We  betrayed  our  own 
principles,  and  those  who  would  not  betray  them 
we  reviled  as  fanatics  and  traitors;  we  made  the 
name  of  Abolitionist  more  odious  than  any  in  our 
annals.  (Vol.  I,  p.  28.)  If  a  man  .  .  .  died  for 
liberty,  as  Lovejoy  did  at  Alton,  he  was  called  a 
fanatical  fool."  Of  the  same  death  the  editor  of 
the  book  says  (Vol.  I,  p.  131),  **And  the  country 
scowled,  and  muttered,  *  Served  him  right. '  ' ''  Curtis 
goes  on,  **The  Fugitive-Slave  Law  was  vigorously 
enforced  in  Ohio  and  other  States."  He  quotes 
(Vol.  I,  p.  75,  et  seq.)  a  declaration  of  Edward 
Everett  as  Governor  of  Massachusetts  that  **  discus- 
sion that  leads  to  insurrection  is  an  offence  against 
the  Commonwealth,"  and  quotes  Daniel  Webster 

*  See  a  collection  of  his  speeches  in  the  Pratt  Lfibrary,  Baltimore,  marked 
53866-2557. 

"  Lovejoy  was  killed  by  a  mob  for  incendiary  agitation  for  Abolition — not 
in  the  South,  but  in  Alton,  Illinois,  in  1836.  Edwin  Earle  Sparks,  in  his 
Man  who  Made  the  Nation,  quotes,  at  page  36,  the  Attorney-General  of  Massa- 
chusetts as  saying  to  the  public  meeting  that  assembled  in  Faneuil  Hall  on 
the  occasion  of  Lovejoy's  death,  "He  died  as  the  fool  dieth." 

„.iV£SS'JV  Of  ILUiiOa 

\  'SRAM 


52  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

that  '*it  is  an  affair  of  high  morals  to  aid  in  en- 
forcing the  Fugitive-Slave  Law.''  He  quotes  (Vol. 
I,  p.  88)  a  speech  in  1859  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas 
that  fully  justified  slavery,  and  he  quotes  him  as 
saying  (p.  51),  *^If  you  go  over  into  Virginia  to 
steal  her  negroes,  she  will  catch  you  and  put  you 
in  jail,  with  other  thieves."  In  the  same  spirit  of 
scornful  denunciation  as  the  above,  Curtis  sets  forth 
(Vol.  I,  pp.  80  to  82)  the  purpose  the  North  enter- 
tained not  to  interfere  with  slavery.  ^^In  other 
free  States  men  were  flying  for  their  lives;  were 
mobbed,  seized,  imprisoned,  maimed,  murdered." 
.  .  .  And  all  this  was  as  late  as  1850.  **The 
Southern  policy  (Vol.  I,  p.  130,  et  seq.)  seemed  to 
conquer.  The  church,  the  college,  trade,  fashion, 
the  vast  political  parties,  took  Calhoun's  side. 
.  .  .  In  Boston,  in  Philadelphia,  in  New  York, 
in  Utica,  in  New  Haven,  and  in  a  hundred  villages 
when  an  American  citizen  proposed  to  say  what  he 
thought  on  a  great  public  question  ...  he  was 
insulted,  mobbed,  chased,  and  maltreated.  The 
Governor  of  Ohio  (Vol.  I,  p.  131)  actually  delivered 
a  citizen  of  that  State  to  the  demand  of  Kentucky 
to  be  tried  for  helping  a  slave  to  escape."  He  gives 
(Vol.  I,  p.  132)  Seward's  picture  of  the  entire  una- 
nimity of  the  Washington  Government  both  at 
home  and  abroad  in  supporting  the  Southern  side, 
and  says  (p.  139),  *^ Fernando  Wood  and  the  New 
York  Herald  were  the  true  spokesmen  of  the  con- 
fused public  sentiment  of  the  city  of  New  York, 
when  one  proposed  the  secession  of  the  city  and  the 
other  proposed  the  adoption  of  the  Montgomery 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  53 

Constitution" — that  is,  the  Constitution  of  the  Con- 
federate States,  which  was  adopted  at  Montgomery, 
Alabama.  And  Curtis  goes  on:  *^If  the  city  of 
New  York  in  February,  1861,  had  voted  upon  its 
acceptance,  it  would  have  been  adopted."  Eef er- 
ring to  the  enlistment  of  negroes  for  soldiers, 
Curtis  says  (p.  174),  ^^But  I  remember  that  four 
years  ago  there  were  good  men  among  us  who  said, 
*If  white  hands  can't  win  this  fight,  let  it  be  lost.'  " 
Does  not  Curtis  here  concede  that  *^ white  hands" 
did  not  win  the  fight!  Whether  he  does  or  not,  did 
not  Lincoln,  in  justification  of  the  Emancipation 
Proclamation,  say'  that  ^^ white  hands"  could  not 
or  would  not  win  the  fight,  and  did  not  Lincoln 
frequently  say  afterwards  in  defense  of  his  auto- 
cratic action,  that  but  for  his  emancipating  and 
arming  the  negroes  the  fight  would  not  have  been 
won?  And — finally — did  the  ^' white  hands"  of  the 
great  North  and  West  lack  numbers  or  wealth  or 
courage  to  win  the  fight,  with  such  odds  in  their 
favor,  if  it  had  been  their  will!" 

It  is  not  uncommon  to  hear  bitter  reprobation  of 
the  Fugitive-Slave  Laws  and  of  the  South  for  dar- 
ing to  ask  the  North  and  West  to  execute  them.  As 
late  as  the  year  1902  Harper  ^s  Weekly  said,'  ^^Some 
laws  appeal  to  the  human  conscience  for  violation, 
such    as    the    Fugitive-Slave    Law,     .     .     .     which 

*  Rhodes'  History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  IV.,  p.  69,  gives  Lincoln's 
statement  of  the  state  of  the  case,  from  the  diary  of  Secretary  Welles,  given  in 
a  drive  with  Seward  and  Welles,  Sunday,  July  13,  1862,  as  recorded  by 
Nicolay  and  Hay,  that  the  President  "had  about  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
it  was  a  military  necessity,  absolutely  essential  for  the  salvation  of  the  nation, 
that  we  must  free  the  slaves  or  be  ourselves  subdued." 

'Editorial  of  March  8th,  p.  293. 


54  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

was  merely  legislated  atrocity/'  The  Fugitive- 
Slave  Laws  required  citizens  of  States  to  which 
slaves  escaped  to  arrest  the  fugitive  by  the  hands 
of  their  town  and  county  police  officers  and  sur- 
render him  to  his  master.  It  was  dirty  work  which 
gentlemen  in  the  South  did  with  great  reluctance, 
if  at  all,  for  their  neighbors.  Joel  Chandler  Harris 
pictures  faithfully,  in  his  Aaron  in  the  Woods,  the 
sympathy,  and  aid  and  comfort  too,  that  the  run- 
away had  and  the  reprobation  of  the  master  who 
did  not  keep  his  negroes  happy  and  content  at 
home.  Better  proof  can  hardly  be  imagined  to 
show  how  far  the  North  and  West  were  from  favor- 
ing emancipation  than  the  following  facts  about 
the  Fugitive-Slave  Laws. 

As  to  the  attitude  of  the  people.  Dr.  E.  Benjamin 
Andrews,  who  is  still  an  ardent  admirer  of  the  Aboli- 
tionists, concedes,  as  a  bitter  reproach  to  the  North 
and  "West  {History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  Ill,  p. 
240),  that  the  Fugitive-Slave  Laws  were  passed  by 
a  Congress  that  had  a  decided  majority  of  Northern 
men.  George  William  Curtis  says  {Orations  and 
Addresses,  Vol.  I,  p.  29),  ^'The  Fugitive-Slave  Bill 
was  passed.  .  .  .  The  North  seemed  to  be  eager 
for  shame.  The  Free  States  hurried  to  kiss  the 
foot  of  the  monstrous  power  that  claimed  the  most 
servile  allegiance."  .  .  .  The  Fugitive-Slave 
Law  was  vigorously  enforced  in  other  States.  The 
Life  of  William  Lloyd  Garrison  quotes,  in  a  note  on 
page  60,  from  a  letter  from  Washington  in  the  Neiv 
Yorh  Herald  of  May  16,  1862,  as  follows:  ^^The 
Fugitive-Slave  Law  is  being  quietly  enforced  in  this 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  55 

district  today,  the  military  authorities  not  inter- 
fering with  the  judicial  process.  There  are  at  least 
four  hundred  cases  pending/'  Observe  that  this 
was  nine  months  after  the  first  battle  of  Manassas, 
or  Bull  Run. 

As  to  Lincoln's  own  attitude  towards  the  Fugi- 
tive-Slave Laws,  we  have  the  following  testimony 
from  the  following  witnesses:  Dr.  Holland 
(Abraham  Lincoln,  p.  347)  and  Markland  tell  us 
(Reminiscences  of  Lincoln,  &c.,  p.  317)  that  Lincoln 
repeatedly  pledged  himself  to  the  execution  of  them ; 
that  he  promised  a  prominent  Kentucky  Democrat 
that  **the  Fugitive-Slave  Law  will  be  better  admin- 
istered than  it  has  ever  been  under  that  of  my 
predecesors;''  that  *^he  voluntarily  and  frequently 
declared  that  he  considered  the  slaveholders  entitled 
to  a  fugitive-slave  law.''  Ida  Tarbell  quotes  from 
a  letter  of  Lincoln's  (McClure^s  Magazine  for  De- 
cember, 1898,  p.  162),  *^You  know  I  think  that  the 
Fugitive- Slave  clause  of  the  Constitution  ought  to 
be  enforced — to  put  it  in  the  mildest  form,  ought 
not  to  be  resisted."  She  gives,  too,  in  another  copy 
of  the  same  magazine,  a  letter  of  Lincoln's  to 
Alexander  H.  Stephens,  late  Vice-President  of  the 
Confederate  States,  referring  to  fears  entertained 
by  the  South  that  he  might  interfere  directly  or 
indirectly  with  the  slaves,  and  assures  Stephens 
*^that  there  is  no  cause  for  such  fears.  The  South 
would  be  in  no  more  danger  in  this  respect  than  in 
the  days  of  Washington."  Even  Nicolay  and  Hay 
concede  (Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  253  and  p. 
258)  that  he  ^^  backed  the  Fugitive-Slave  Laws  fully, 


56  THE  EEAL  LINCOLN 

in  writing.''  His  Inaugural  gave  a  fresh  promise 
that  he  would  execute  them. 

As  to  Lincoln's  views  about  abolition,  we  have 
his  own  full  and  distinct  avowal,  made  in  his  speech 
in  reply  to  Douglas  at  Peoria,  Illinois,  October  16, 
1854:^ 

^^  Before  proceeding  let  me  say  that  I  think  I  have 
no  prejudice  against  the  Southern  people.  They  are 
just  what  we  would  be  in  their  situation.  If  slavery 
did  not  now  exist  among  them,  they  would  not  intro- 
duce it.  If  it  did  exist  among  us,  we  should  not 
instantly  give  it  up.  This  I  believe  of  the  masses. 
North  and  South.  Doubtless  there  are  individuals 
on  both  sides  who  would  not  hold  slaves  under  any 
circumstances,  and  others  who  would  gladly  intro- 
duce slavery  anew  if  it  were  not  in  existence.  We 
know  that  some  Southern  men  do  free  their  slaves, 
go  North,  and  become  tip-top  Abolitionists,  while 
some  Northern  ones  go  South  and  become  most 
cruel  slave-masters. 

^^When  Southern  people  tell  us  they  are  no  more 
responsible  for  the  origin  of  slavery  than  we  are, 
I  acknowledge  the  fact.  When  it  is  said  that  the 
institution  exists,  and  it  is  very  difficult  to  get  rid 
of  it  in  any  satisfactory  way,  I  can  understand  and 
appreciate  the  saying.  I  surely  will  not  blame  them 
for  not  doing  what  I  should  not  know  how  to  do 
myself.  If  all  earthly  power  were  given  me,  I  should 
not  know  what  to  do  as  to  the  existing  institution. 
My  first  impulse  would  be  to  free  all  the  slaves,  and 


*  Abraham   Lincoln's    complete   works,    edited   by    Messrs.    Nicolay   and    Hay, 
Vol.  I.,  p.  186. 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  57 

send  them  to  Liberia,  to  their  own  native  land.  But 
a  moment's  reflection  would  convince  me  that  what- 
ever of  high  hope — as  I  think  there  is — there  may 
be  in  this  in  the  long  run,  its  sudden  execution  is 
impossible.  If  they  were  all  landed  there  in  a  day, 
they  would  all  perish  in  the  next  ten  days;  and 
there  are  not  surplus  shipping  and  surplus  money 
enough  to  carry  them  there  in  many  times  ten  days. 
What  then?  Free  them  all,  and  keep  them  among 
us  as  underlings?  Is  it  quite  certain  this  betters 
their  condition!  I  think  I  would  not  hold  one  of 
them  in  slavery  at  any  rate,  yet  the  point  is  not 
clear  enough  for  me  to  denounce  people  upon.  "What 
next?  Free  them,  and  make  them  politically  and 
socially  our  equals  ?  My  own  feelings  will  not  admit 
of  this,  and  if  mine  would,  we  well  know  that  those 
of  the  great  mass  of  whites  will  not.  Whether  this 
feeling  accords  with  justice  and  sound  judgment 
is  not  the  sole  question,  if  indeed  it  is  any  part  of  it. 
A  universal  feeling,  whether  well  or  ill  founded, 
cannot  be  safely  disregarded.  We  cannot  make 
them  equals.  It  does  seem  to  me  that  systems  of 
gradual  emancipation  might  be  adopted,  but  for 
their  tardiness  in  this  I  will  not  undertake  to  judge 
our  brethren  of  the  South. 

*'When  they  remind  us  of  their  constitutional 
rights,  I  acknowledge  them — not  grudgingly,  but 
fully  and  fairly ;  and  I  would  give  them  any  legisla- 
tion for  the  reclaiming  of  their  fugitives  which 
should  not  in  its  stringency  be  more  likely  to  carry 
a  free  man  into  slavery  than  our  ordinary  criminal 
laws  are  to  hang  an  innocent  one." 


58  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

David  E.  Locke  says  {Reminiscences  of  Lincoln, 
Sc,  p.  445)  that  in  Lincoln's  contest  with  Douglas 
for  Congress  in  1858,  the  imputation  of  abolition 
was  what  **it  was  Lincoln's  chief  desire  to  avoid," 
as  appears  in  the  following  words,  which  show,  too, 
the  attitude  of  that  district  in  Illinois  towards  aboli- 
tion:  '^The  Eepublican  leaders,  and  Lincoln  as 
well,  were  afraid  of  only  one  thing,  and  that 
was  having  imputed  to  them  any  desire  to  abolish 
slavery.  Douglas,  in  all  the  debates  between 
himself  and  Lincoln,  attempted  to  fasten  abolition 
on  him,  and  this  it  was  Lincoln's  chief  desire  to 
avoid.  Great  as  he  was,  he  had  not  then  reached 
the  point  of  declaring  war  upon  slavery;  he  could 
go  no  further  than  to  protest  against  its  extension 
into  the  Territories,  and  that  was  pressed  in  so  mild 
and  hesitating  a  way  as  to  rob  it  of  half  its 
point." 

Leland  (his  Lincoln,  p.  50  et  seq.)  quotes  from 
Lamon  and  from  Holland  to  show  that  Lincoln's 
anti-slavery  protests  before  the  war  were  very 
mild,  and  confirms  their  statements  about  it. 

The  Nation  of  October  7, 1899,  quotes  from  James 
E.  Gilmore's  Personal  Recollections  of  Abraham 
Lincoln  and  the  Civil  War  what  Lincoln  said  to 
Gilmore  in  May  1863.  The  Southern  people  *Hhink 
they  have  a  moral  and  legal  right  to  their  slaves, 
and  until  very  recently  the  North  has  been  of  the 
same  opinion."  The  same  book,  at  page  57,  says 
that  Gilmore  said  to  Lincoln,  in  November,  1861, 
*^You  told  me  eight  months  ago  that  after  thirty 
years  of  agitation  the  Abolitionists  were  merely  a 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  59 

corporaPs  guard,  not  a  party/'  All  of  which  shows 
that  it  would  have  been  what  is  now  called  ^^bad 
polities''  for  Lincoln  to  avow  abolition  sentiments, 
though  it  is  but  justice  to  say  that  further  evidence 
tends  to  show  that  he  never  entertained  any  such 
sentiments,  although  they  have  been  attributed  to 
him  almost  universally,  like  heroism,  refinement, 
and  personal  piety,  his  claims  to  which  virtues  have 
been  hereinbefore  discussed.  Rhodes  gives,"  without 
comment,  a  letter  from  the  New  York  Tribune's  cor- 
respondent to  the  managing  editor,  Sydney  Howard 
Gay,  giving  details  of  a  talk  with  General  Wads- 
worth,  who  had  been  with  the  President  and  Stanton 
every  day  at  the  War  Department — frequently  for 
five  or  six  hours — during  several  months.  He  says, 
*^The  President  is  not  with  us;  has  no  anti-slavery 
instincts."  This  is  in  1862  that  he  speaks  of  anti- 
slavery  men  as  *^ Radicals,  Abolitionists,"  and  fre- 
quently speaks  of  **the  nigger  question." 

A  memorial  addressed  to  the  President  by  the 
Meeting  of  the  Christian  Men  of  Chicago,  held  Sep- 
tember 7,  1862,"  shows  their  impression  about 
Lincoln's  attitude  to  emancipation  by  quoting  from 
the  Bible  Mordecai's  threat  to  Queen  Esther,  *^If 
thou  altogether  boldest  thy  peace  at  this  time, 
.  .  .  thou  and  thy  father's  house  shall  be  de- 
stroyed." 

Dr.  E.  Benjamin  Andrews  says:"  **Mr.  Lincoln 
and  the  Republican  party  resorted  to  arms  not  in- 


^  History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  IV.,  p.  64,  note. 
"  See  Fund  Publication  of  the  Maryland  Historical  Society,  p.  14, 
^History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  II.,  p.  190. 


60  ^      THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

tending  the  slightest  alteration  in  the  constitutional 
status  of  slavery.'' 

Allen  Thorndike  Eice  says  "  ^  ^  Lincoln  did  not  free 
the  negro  for  the  sake  of  the  slave,  but  for  the  sake 
of  the  Union.  It  is  an  error  to  class  him  with  the 
noble  band  of  Abolitionists  to  whom  neither  Church 
nor  State  was  sacred  when  it  sheltered  slavery.'' 

'    ^  Introduction  to  Reminiscences  of  Lincoln,  (tc,  p.   14. 


CHAPTER  IX 

SECESSION   LONG    THREATENED COEECION    NEVER 

SERIOUSLY   THOUGHT   OF    TILL   1861 

THE  authorities  we  quote  have  put  on  record 
ample  proof  of  a  widespread  conviction  in  the 
North  and  West  in  1861  that  the  use  of  force  to  re- 
tain States  in  the  Union  was  not  only  inadmissible 
under  the  Constitution,  but  abhorrent  to  the  prin- 
ciples on  which  their  political  institutions  rested. 

Mr.  Charles  Francis  Adams  asked,  in  a  late  ad- 
dress to  the  New  England  Society  of  Charleston, 
South  Carolina,  referring  to  secession,  *^What  at 
different  epochs  would  have  been  the  probable  out- 
come of  any  attempt  at  withdrawal  ?  .  .  .  I  hold 
that  it  was  merely  a  question  of  time,  and  that  such 
a  withdrawal  as  then  took  place  would  never  have 
failed  of  success  at  any  anterior  period  in  our  na- 
tional history. '  ^  The  same  very  high  authority  says  * 
that  ^*up  to  the  very  day  of  the  firing  on  the  flag  the 
attitude  of  the  Northern  States,  even  in  case  of 
hostilities,  was  open  to  grave  question,  while  that 
of  the  Border  States  did  not  admit  of  a  doubt;" 
.  .  .  ^^that  Mr.  Seward,  the  member  of  the  Presi- 
dent's Cabinet  in  charge  of  foreign  affairs,  both  in 
his  official  papers  and  his  private  talk,  repudiated 
not  only  the  right,  but  the  wish  even  to  use  armed 

^  Life  of  Charles  Francis  Adams,  his  father,  Lincoln's  Minister  to  England, 
p.  49,  et  seq. 

61 


62  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

force  in  subjugating  the  Southern  States  against 
the  will  of  a  majority  of  the  people,  and  declared 
that  the  President  willingly  accepted  as  true  the 
cardinal  dogma  of  the  seceding  States,  that  the 
Federal  Government  had  no  authority  for  coercion ;" 
.  .  .  and  all  this  time  (p.  150)  the  Southern  sym- 
pathizers throughout  the  *loyaP  States  were  earnest 
and  outspoken." 

General  B.  F.  Butler  records  (Butler's  Boole,  p. 
298)  that  Henry  Dunning,  Mayor  of  Hartford, 
called  the  City  Council  together  ^^to  consult  if  my 
troops  should  be  allowed  to  go  through  Hartford 
on  the  way  to  the  war.  He  was  a  true,  loyal  man, 
but  did  not  believe  in  having  a  war.  ...  He 
was  a  patriot  to  the  core." 

Morse  makes  the  following  remarkable  state- 
ment :  ^  *  ^  Greeley  and  Seward  and  Wendell  Phillips, 
representative  men,  were  little  better  than  Seces- 
sionists. The  statement  sounds  ridiculous,  yet  the 
proof  against  each  comes  from  his  own  mouth.  The 
Tribune  had  retracted  none  of  those  disunion  senti- 
ments of  which  examples  have  been  given."  A.  K. 
McClure  shows  that  Greeley  was  not  alone  in  these 
views.  He  says  (Lincoln  and  Men  of  War  Time, 
p.  292,  et  seq.),  '^Not  only  the  Democratic  party, 
with  few  exceptions,  but  a  very  large  proportion  of 
the  Republican  party,  including  some  of  its  ablest 


2  We  have  a  letter  of  July,  1861,  from  Seward  to  Minister  Adams,  in 
Rhodes'  History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  IV.,  p.  304,  of  like  dispassionate 
tone.  It  blames  alike  "the  extreme  advocates  of  African  slavery  and  its  most 
vehement  opponents,"  as  seeming  "to  act  together  to  precipitate  a  servile  war." 

^Lincoln,  Vol.  I.,  p.  231.  He  quotes  from  Greeley's  editorials  repeated 
bitter  censures  of  forcing  seceded  States  back  into  the  Union. 


THE  KEAL  LINCOLN  63 

and  most  trusted  leaders,  believed  that  peaceable 
secession  might  reasonably  result  in  early  recon- 
struction." 

Would  Jefferson  Davis,  would  Eobert  E.  Lee, 
have  asked  more  than  McClure  here  says  the  two 
great  parties  of  the  North  and  West  agreed  in  be- 
lieving ought  to  be  done? 

Even  so  late  as  April  10,  1861,  Seward  wrote 
officially  to  Charles  Francis  Adams,  Minister  to 
England,  **Only  an  imperial  and  despotic  govern- 
ment could  subjugate  thoroughly  disaffected  and 
insurrectionary  members  of  the  States."  On  April 
9th  the  rumor  of  a  fight  at  Sumter  being  spread 
abroad,  Wendell  Phillips  said,  ^^Here  are  a  series 
of  States  girding  the  Gulf  who  think  that  their 
peculiar  institutions  require  that  they  should  have 
a  separate  government;  they  have  a  right  to  decide 
that  question  without  appealing  to  you  and  to  me. 
.  .  .  Standing  with  the  principles  of  76  behind 
us,  who  can  deny  them  the  right  f  .  .  .  Abraham 
Lincoln  has  no  right  to  a  soldier  in  Fort  Sumter. 
.  .  .  You  cannot  go  through  Massachusetts  and 
recruit  men  to  bombard  Charleston  and  New 
Orleans. ' '  Morse  is  comprehensive  in  his  statement 
{Lincoln,  Vol.  I,  p.  233)  of  the  position  taken  by  the 
Eepublicans,  saying  of  Lincoln's  early  days  in 
Washington,  .  .  .  **None  of  the  distinguished 
men,  leaders  of  his  own  party  whom  Lincoln  found 
about  him  at  Washington,  were  in  a  frame  of  mind 
to  assist  him  efficiently. "  Dr.  E.  Benjamin  Andrews 
deplores  (History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  II,  p. 
95)  the  fact  that  **  coolness  and  absurd  prejudice 


64  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

against  coercing  largely  possessed  even  the  loyal 
masses/'  and  that  (Vol.  II,  p.  95)  ^^ throughout  the 
North  the  feeling  was  strong  against  all  efforts  at 
coercion."  A.  K.  McClure  says,*  ^^Even  in  Phila- 
delphia .  .  .  nearly  the  whole  commerical  and 
financial  interests  were  arrayed  against  Lincoln  at 
first." 

For  months  after  the  secession  of  South  Carolina, 
while  the  other  States  were  sucessively  passing  or- 
dinances of  secession  and  seizing  the  forts,  arsenals, 
etc.,  within  their  boundaries,  the  Government  at 
Washington,  President,  Cabinet,  Supreme  Court, 
and  Congress,  took  not  one  step  toward  coercion, 
nor  did  either  house  of  Congress  listen  to  a  sugges- 
tion of  emancipation.  These  Senators  and  Eepre- 
sentatives  were  almost  all  from  the  North  and  the 
West,  and  we  may  surely  conclude  that,  at  so  critical 
a  period,  they  ascertained  and  carried  out  the  will 
of  their  constituents.  See  the  testimony  of  General 
B.  F.  Butler  {Butler's  Booh,  Boston,  1892,  p.  1009) 
as  to  how  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
stood.  He  says  that  ^^  during  the  whole  war  of  the 
rebellion  the  Government  was  rarely  ever  aided,  but 
usually  impeded,  by  the  decisions  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  so  that  the  President  was  obliged  to  suspend 
the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  in  order  to  relieve  him- 
self from  the  rulings  of  the  court."  This  is  stated 
by  General  Butler  quite  seriously  and  not,  as  might 
possibly  be  supposed,  in  any  satirical  mood.  Of  the 
Supreme   Court's   Dred   Scott   decision,   Woodrow 

*  Our  Presidents  and  How   We  Make  Them^  p.   177.      See  also  Morse's  Lin- 
coln, Vol.  I.,  p.  4,  and  p.  22. 


THE  KEAL  LINCOLN  65 

Wilson  says  (Division  and  Reunion ^  p.  198),  **The 
opinion  of  the  court  sustained  the  whole  Southern 
claim. ' ' 

Ropes  says  {Story  of  the  Civil  War,  Part  1,  p. 
19),  *^It  is  true  that  during  the  winter  of  1860  Con- 
gress took  no  action  whatever  looking  toward  prep- 
aration for  the  conquest  of  the  outgoing  States.'' 
.  .  .  From  page  355  to  553  of  the  first  volume  of 
Greeley's  American  Conflict  there  is  little  but  a 
record  of  the  opposition  to  coercion  of  the  South  in 
the  ^^ loyal"  States.  Pages  357  et  seq.  and  354  et 
seq,  show  the  action  of  the  Legislatures  of  New  Jer- 
sey and  Illinois,  both  nearly  unanimous,  in  the  same 
direction.  See,  also  (Vol.  I,  p.  380,  et  seq.),  the  very 
strong  support  given  to  the  amendment  of  the  Con- 
stitution proposed  by  one  whom  Greeley  called  *^the 
venerable  and  Union-loving  Crittenden,  of  Ken- 
tucky," which  amendment  guaranteed  ample  pro- 
tection to  slavery,  and  it  could  have  been  passed  in 
Congress,  but  for  the  fact  that  they  knew  the  South 
thought  the  time  for  compromise  was  past. 

Greeley  describes  (American  Conflict,  p.  387,  et 
seq,)  a  tremendous  demonstration  against  the 
threatened  war  made  in  New  York  State  in  Febru- 
ary, 1861,  in  which  her  leaders  promised  about  all 
the  South  could  ask.  In  this,  as  in  the  New  York 
State  Democratic  Convention,  which  he  describes 
(p.  392)  as  *^  probably  the  strongest  and  most  im- 
posing assembly  of  delegates  ever  convened  in  the 
State,"  Greeley  records  expressions  of  the  purpose 
not  only  not  to  coerce,  but  to  aid  the  South  in  case 
of  war,   which   expressions   were   heard   with   ap- 


66  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

planse ;  and  in  a  speech  of  James  S.  Thayer,  it  was 
alleged  that  these  views  had  been  asserted  in  the 
last  election  by  333,000  votes  in  New  York.  Greeley 
further  makes  the  following  very  remarkable  state- 
ment: *^That  throughout  the  Free  States  eminent 
and  eager  advocates  of  adhesion  to  the  new  Con- 
federacy by  those  States  were  widely  heard  and 
heeded."  Vice-President  Hamlin  said  {Life  of 
Hannibal  Hamlin ^  by  his  son,  p.  459),  *^If  we  had 
had  a  common  union  in  the  North  and  a  common 
loyalty  to  the  government,  we  could  have  ended 
this  civil  war  months  ago,  but  this  aid  and  com- 
fort the  rebels  had  received  from  the  Northern 
allies.''     .     .    . 

Morse  {Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  I,  p.  76)  copies 
from  a  speech  made  by  Lincoln  in  Congress,  Janu- 
ary 12,  1848,  **Any  people  anywhere,  being  inclined 
and  having  the  power,  have  the  right  to  rise  up  and 
shake  off  the  existing  government,  and  form  a  new 
one  that  suits  them  better.  This  is  a  most  valuable, 
a  most  sacred  right — a  right  which  we  hope  and 
believe  is  to  liberate  the  world.  Nor  is  this  right  con- 
fined to  cases  in  which  the  whole  people  of  an  ex- 
isting government  may  choose  to  exercise  it.  Any 
portion  of  such  people,  that  can,  may  revolutionize, 
and  make  their  own  of  so  much  of  the  territory  as 
they  inhabit."  On  this  Morse  comments  as  fol- 
lows: ^^This  doctrine,  so  comfortably  applied  to 
Texas  in  1848,  seemed  unsuitable  to  the  Confeder- 
ate States  in  1861." 

Woodrow  Wilson  {Division  and  Reunion,  p.  165) 
says  some  of  the  Northern  Whigs  had  not  hesitated 


THE  KEAL  LINCOLN  67 

to  join  John  Quincy  Adams,  early  in  1843,  in  de- 
claring to  their  constituents  that  in  their  opinion  the 
annexation  of  Texas  would  bring  about  and  fully 
justify  a  dissolution  of  the  Union;  while  later,  in 
1845,  Wm.  Lloyd  Garrison  had  won  hearty  bursts 
of  applause  from  an  anti-annexation  convention 
held  in  Boston  by  the  proposal  that  Massachusetts 
should  lead  in  a  movement  to  withdraw  from  the 
Union. '  ^ 

And  Woodrow  Wilson  sets  forth  the  mind  of  the 
Government  and  the  people  of  the  United  States 
in  1860  as  follows  (Division  and  Reunion,  p.  214) : 

That  President  Buchanan **  agreed  with 

his  Attorney-General  that  there  was  no  constitu- 
tional means  or  warrant  for  coercing  a  State  to  do 
her  duty  under  the  law.  Such,  indeed,  for  the  time 
seemed  to  be  the  general  opinion  of  the  country." 

Colonel  Eoosevelt  says  in  his  Oliver  Cromwell,  p. 
193:  ^^Of  course  if  the  Constitution  "—of  1789^ 
**had  made  such  a  declaration" — of  the  abolition 
of  slavery  in  all  the  States — **it  would  never  have 
been  adopted,  while  if  the  Eepublican  platform  of 
1860  had  taken  such  a  position,  Lincoln  would  not 
have  been  elected,  no  war  for  the  Union  would  have 
been  waged."  And  Edward  Everett  Hale  says," 
*  *  The  reader  of  today  forgets  that  in  the  same  years 
in  which  South  Carolina  was  defying  the  North, 
Massachusetts  gave  directions  that  the  national  flag 
should  not  float  over  her  State-House."  It  is  in- 
teresting to  observe  what  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hale  thinks 
South  Carolina  was  defying. 

^  James  Russell  Lowell  and  His  Friends,  p.  105,  et  seq. 


68  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

Schouler  {History  of  the  United  States,  p.  214, 
et  seq.)  records  that  General  B.  F.  Butler  offered 
his  Massachusetts  brigade  to  put  down  any  negro 
insurrection,  and  that  *^few,  North  or  South,  dur- 
ing the  first  year  of  the  war,  sought  or  approved 
emancipation."  General  B.  F.  Butler  says  {But- 
ler's Booh,  Boston,  1892,  p.  293),  **If  we  had  beaten 
at  Bull  Run,  I  have  no  doubt  the  whole  contest  would 
have  been  patched  up  by  concessions  to  slavery,  as 
no  one  in  power  then  was  ready  for  its  abolition." 
Lincoln  himself  said  in  his  famous  letter  to  Greeley 
in  the  Tribune  ^'lil  could  save  the  Union  without 
freeing  any  slave,  I  would  do  it." 

General  B.  F.  Butler  says  {Butler's  Booh,  p.  168, 
et  seq.),  **Mr.  Lincoln's  Inaugural  Address,  under 
advice  of  Seward,  left  it  wholly  uncertain  whether 
he  would  attempt  to  retake  Forts  Pickens  and 
Moultrie." 

Bancroft  {Life  of  Seward,  Vol.  I,  p.  93)  describes 
Lincoln's  first  message  as  meaning  either  war  or 
peace,  and  says,  *^It  is  now  plain  that  no  definite 
course  of  action  had  been  determined;"  and  (p. 
104)  *^ Seward's  method  of  dealing  with  secession 
was  remarkably  like  Buchanan's." 

Nicolay  and  Hay  record  {Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol. 
Ill,  p.  247,  et  seq.)  that  Lincoln  called  using  force 
**the  ugly  point." 

Eopes  says  {Story  of  the  Civil  War,  Part  II,  p. 
70,  et  seq.)  of  the  policy  urged  by  Governor  Pickens, 
but  not  adopted  by  the  Confederate  Government  at 
Montgomery — to  seize  Sumter  before  Buchanan's 
term  should  end — *^It  is  very  improbable  that  Mr. 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  69 

Buchanan  would  have  thought  himself  authorized 
to  call  the  North  to  arms  if  Sumter  had  been  at- 
tacked while  he  was  President,  and  it  is  almost  cer- 
tain that  Mr.  Lincoln  would  never  have  taken  the 
risk  involved  in  beginning  an  aggressive  war 
against  the  South  in  retaliation  for  any  past  act,  no 
matter  how  flagrant." 

What  impression  as  to  his  intentions  Lincoln 
meant  to  produce  is  plain  from  the  following :  Gree- 
ley quotes  {American  Conflict,  Vol.  I,  p.  422)  assur- 
ances given  by  Lincoln  in  his  Inaugural  Address  that 
he  would  not  **  interfere  with  the  institution  of  slav- 
ery where  it  exists  in  the  States."  Ida  Tarbell 
quotes  the  same,"  and  both  say  the  assurances  were 
so  strong  that  they  should  have  removed  the  ap- 
prehensions of  the  South.  Burgess  sums  up  the 
light  on  history  given  by  that  Inaugural  as  follows : 
*^This  language  was  certainly  a  little  confusing  to 
the  minds  of  Union  men,  and  by  so  much  encourag- 
ing to  the  Secessionists.  .  .  .  Mr.  Lincoln 
should  never  have  used  the  word  invasion  to  de- 
scribe the  presence  of  the  National  Government  in 
any  State  of  the  Union,  or  the  entrance,  so  to  speak, 
of  the  National  Government  into  any  State  of  the 
Union.  .  .  .  The  idea  rests  upon  the  most  radi- 
cal misconception  of  the  distinction  between  in- 
ternational and  constitutional  law.  .  .  .  Mr. 
Lincoln  also  made  a  mistake  in  announcing  that  he 
would  not,  for  the  time  being,  fill  the  United  States 

^  McClure's  Magazine  for  January,    1899,   p.   261. 

'  The   Civil   War  and   the   Constitution,  Vol.  I.,   p.    141,   very  recently  pub- 
lished. 


70  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

offices,  and  cause  the  execution  of  the  United  States 
laws,  in  the  interior  of  hostile  communities.  This 
encouraged  still  further  the  hope  and  belief  among 
the  masses  of  the  Southern  States  that  peaceable  dis- 
union was  even  probable.  .  .  .  Taken  altogether 
the  address  shows  that  even  Mr.  Lincoln's  mind  was 
not  altogether  clear  as  to  the  national  character  of 
our  political  system,  but  it  also  shows  that  it  was 
clearer  than  that  of  any  of  his  contemporaries.  The 
whole  country,  North  and  South,  was  more  or  less 
tainted  with  the  doctrine  of  States'  Rights.  The 
difference  between  all  the  public  men  of  that  day 
was  a  difference  of  degree  more  than  of  kind.  It 
is  wonderful  that  Mr.  Lincoln  should  have  been,  in 
the  midst  of  such  surroundings,  so  clear  as  he  was." 

Is  it  not  shown  above  that  Lincoln's  use  of  mili- 
tary force  was  contrary  to  views  which  he  had 
deliberately  formulated  twelve  years  earlier — con- 
trary to  the  right  that  John  Quincy  Adams  and 
William  Lloyd  Garrison  had  claimed  for  New  Eng- 
land in  Boston  with  applause  sixteen  years  earlier 
— contrary  to  the  mind  of  the  Government  and 
people  of  the  United  States  on  the  day  when  he 
called  for  75,000  soldiers!  Is  it  not  shown,  besides, 
that  he  betrayed  or  professed  in  his  Inaugural  such 
hesitation  as  encouraged  secession,  and  that  this 
hesitation  was  in  the  mind  of  all  the  public  men  of 
that  day  who  were  not  decided  in  denial  of  all  right 
to  use  force? 

Burgess  says  {The  Civil  War  and  the  Constitu- 
tion, p.  174),  **The  Governors  of  Virginia,  North 
Carolina,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Missouri,  and  Ar- 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  71 

kansas  flatly  and  insolently  refused  to  obey  the 
President's  call  for  troops  from  those  Common- 
wealths, and  the  Governors  of  Maryland  and  Dela- 
ware did  not  obey  it.  No  ordinance  of  secession  had 
yet  been  passed  by  any  of  these  Commonwealths, 
and  no  one  of  them  claimed  to  be  out  of  the  Union. 
.  .  .  These  men  made  themselves,  by  their  mili- 
tary insubordination,  subject  to  a  United  States 
court-martial.  They  ought  to  have  been  arrested, 
tried,  and  condemned  by  a  military  tribunal  for  one 
of  the  most  grievous  offenses  known  to  public  juris- 
prudence. It  was  the  physical  power  to  carry  out 
such  a  procedure  that  was  lacking.  ...  At  this 
day  such  an  attitude  on  the  part  of  State  Governors 
would  be  regarded  very  differently  from  what  it 
was  then,  and  might  be  dealt  with  very  differently." 
But,  he  says,  on  p.  198  of  same  Vol.,  ^*It  is  doubtful 
if  Mr.  Lincoln  himself  and  his  chief  advisers  real- 
ized the  enormity  of  the  offense  which  these  ^Border- 
State'  Governors  had  committed  in  refusing  to  send 
forward  the  troops." 

See  below  testimony  from  very  numerous  and 
distinguished  witnesses  contrasting  the  unanimity 
of  the  people  of  the  South  and  the  hesitation  about 
the  war  everywhere  in  the  North,  and  the  wide  and 
bitter  opposition  to  it  in  many  places  in  the  North 
and  West. 

Russell'  writes  from  the  South:  *^I  have  now 
been  in  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Georgia, 
Alabama,  and  in  none  of  these  great  States  have  I 
found  the  least  indication  of  the  Union  sentiment 

'My  Diary  North  and  South,  p.  976,  May  12,   1860. 


72  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

which  Mr.   Seward  always  insists  to  exist  in  the 
South.'' 

Schouler  describes  {History  of  the  United  States, 
Vol.  VI,  p.  37)  the  effect  in  the  South  of  the  news  of 
the  fall  of  Fort  Sumter.  *^  National  allegiance 
raised  scarcely  a  whisper,  but  in  the  whole  insurgent 
area  volunteers  rallied  for  defense,  and  at  sight  of 
the  waving  stars  and  bars,  as  trains  crowded  with 
soldiers  went  by,  the  population  of  the  hamlets,  and 
the  workers  in  the  field,  black  and  white,  cheered 
for  Jeff  Davis  and  the  Confederate  States." 

Greeley,  too,  describes  the  time  {American  Con- 
flict, Vol.  I,  p.  362) :  '^For  the  great  mails,  during 
the  last  few  weeks  of  1860,  sped  southward,  bur- 
dened with  letters  of  sympathy  and  encouragement 
to  the  engineers  of  secession.  ...  As  trade  fell 
off  and  work  in  the  cities  and  manufacturing  vil- 
lages was  withered  at  the  breath  of  the  Southern 
sirocco,  the  heart  of  the  North  seemed  to  sink  within 
her;  and  the  charter  elections  at  Boston,  Lowell, 
Roxbury,  Charlestown,  Worcester,  etc.,  in  Massa- 
chusetts, and  at  Hudson,  etc.,  in  New  York,  which 
took  place  early  in  December,  1860,  showed  a  strik- 
ing and  general  reduction  of  Republican  strength." 

The  Appendix  shows  that  Greeley  was  an  ardent 
Abolitionist  and  the  most  honored  and  respected 
and  influential  Republican  of  his  day,  yet  see  what 
George  William  Curtis  tells  of  him  {Orations  and 
Addresses,  VoL  II,  p.  429,  et  seq.),  as  follows :  ^*For 
the  right  of  secession,  as  Greeley  maintained,  was 
bottomed  on  the  Declaration  of  Independence." 
.     .     .     Such  a   political  philosophy  as   this,   pro- 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  73 

claimed  by  a  leading  organ  of  the  Republican  party, 
created  difficulties  for  a  President  situated  as  Mr. 
Buchanan  was  which  posterity  cannot  overlook. 

James  Russell  Lowell  wrote'  of  the  day  when 
Lincoln's  Administration  began,  *^Even  in  that  half 
of  the  Union  which  acknowledged  him  as  President 
there  was  a  large  and  at  that  time  dangerous  mi- 
nority that  hardly  admitted  his  claim  to  office,  and 
even  in  the  party  that  elected  him  there  was  also  a 
large  minority  that  suspected  him  of  being  secretly 
a  communicant  with  the  church  of  Laodicea." 

Russell  quotes  {Mt/  Diary,  North  and  South,  p. 
13)  Bancroft,  the  historian,  afterwards  Minister  to 
England,  for  the  opinion  in  1860  that  the  United 
States  had  no  authority  to  coerce  the  people  of  the 
South,  and  Bancroft  told  Russell  that  this  opinion 
was  widely  entertained  among  men  of  all  classes  in 
the  North.  And  Russell  reports  that  he  found  the 
same  opinion  prevailing  in  Washington  in  March, 
1861.  Russell  reprobates  with  contempt  such  a  view 
for  people  or  government,  which  makes  his  evidence 
the  more  valuable.  He  quotes  (p.  14)  a  gentleman 
as  saying  that  *Hhe  majority  of  the  people  of  New 
York,  and  all  of  the  respectable  people,  were  dis- 
gusted at  the  election  of  such  a  fellow  as  Lincoln  to 
be  President,  and  would  back  the  Southern  people 
if  it  came  to  a  split."  And  Russell  goes  on  (p.  15), 
in  March,  1860,  '^I  was  astonished  to  find  little  sym- 
pathy and  no  respect  for  the  newly-installed  Gov- 
ernment. ' '  Dining  with  a  banker  in  New  York  city, 
March  18,  1860,  he  met  Hon.  Horatio  Seymour,  Mr. 

*  North  American  Magazine  for  January,   1864. 


74  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

Tilden,  and  Mr.  Bancroft.  He  says  (p.  16),  ^* There 
was  not  a  man  who  maintained  that  the  Government 
had  any  power  to  coerce  a  State,  or  force  a  State 
to  remain  in  the  Union.''  Mr.  Seymour  held  that 
though  secession  would  produce  revolution,  it  was, 
nevertheless,  ^^a  right."  Eussell  adds,  **In  fact, 
the  Federal  Government  is  groping  in  the  dark;" 
and  again  (p.  18),  it  ** appears  to  be  drifting  with 
the  current  of  events."  He  found  (p.  28)  Senator 
Sumner  and  Secretary  Chase  disposed  to  let  the 
South  *'go  out  with  their  slavery."  Elsewhere 
(p.  211)  he  says  of  Chase,  **He  has  never  disguised 
his  belief  that  the  South  might  have  been  left  to  go 
at  first,  with  a  certainty  of  their  returning  to  the 
Union.  .  .  .  Nay  (p.  134),  more,  when  I  arrived 
in  Washington" — which  was  in  March,  1861 — 
**some  members  of  the  Cabinet  were  perfectly  ready 
to  let  the  South  go.  One  of  the  first  questions  put 
to  me  by  Mr.  Chase,  in  my  first  interview  with  him, 
was  whether  I  thought  a  very  injurious  effect  would 
be  produced  to  the  prestige  of  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment in  Europe  if  the  Northern  States  let  the  South 
have  its  own  way,  and  told  them  to  go  in  peace." 
**For  my  own  part,"  said  he,  *^I  should  not  be  ad- 
verse to  let  them  try  it,  for  I  believe  they  would  soon 
find  out  their  mistake."  Again  Eussell  (p.  30),  de- 
scribing a  conference  with  Secretary  Seward,  April 
4,  1861,  says  that  Seward  ^*  admitted  that  it  would 
not  become  the  spirit  of  the  American  Government, 
or  of  the  Federal  system,  to  use  armed  force  in  sub- 
jugating the  Southern  States  against  the  will  of  the 
majority  of  the  people.    Therefore,  if  the  majority 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  75 

desire  secession,  Mr.  Seward  would  let  them  have 
it.''  Russell  reports  (p.  34)  a  similar  conference 
with  Seward  in  Seward's  house,  as  follows:  .  .  . 
*^The  Secretary  is  quite  confident  in  what  he  calls 
*  reaction.'  "  '^When  the  Southern  States,"  he  says, 
**see  that  we  mean  them  no  wrong — that  we  intend 
no  violence  to  persons,  rights,  or  things —  .  .  . 
they  will  see  their  mistake,  and  one  after  another 
they  will  come  back  into  the  Union. ' ' 

See  another  entry  in  Russell's  Diary  for  July  5, 
1861  (p.  143),  about  Lincoln's  message  just  de- 
livered: ** After  dinner  I  made  a  round  of  visits, 
and  heard  the  diplomatists  speak  of  the  message; 
few,  if  any,  of  them,  in  its  favor.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  Baron  Gerolt,  the  Prussian  Minister,  there 
is  not  one  member  of  the  Legations  who  justifies  the 
attempt  of  the  Northern  States  to  assert  the  su- 
premacy of  the  Federal  Government  by  force  of 
arms."  And  again  Russell  records  (September  3, 
1861)  that,  when  there  was  an  alarm  in  Washing- 
ton, **the  Ministers  were  in  high  spirit  at  the  pros- 
pect of  an  attack  on  Washington.  Such  agreeable 
people  are  the  governing  party  of  the  United  States 
at  present,  that  there  is  only  one  representative  of 
a  foreign  power  here  who  would  not  like  to  see  them 
flying  before  Southern  bayonets." 

General  Horace  Porter  records"  that  during  a 
visit  of  Stanton  to  Grant,  near  Richmond,  Stanton 
gave  a  graphic  description  of  the  anxieties  that  had 
been  experienced  for  some  months  at  Washington 

^Century  Magazine  for  June,   1897,  p.  201. 


76  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

on  account  of  the  boldness  of  the  disloyal  element  in 
the  North. 

General  W.  T.  Sherman  says  {Memoir,  Vol.  I, 
p.  167)  that  in  March,  1861,  ^^it  certainly  looked  as 
though  the  people  of  the  North  would  tamely  sub- 
mit to  a  disruption  of  the  Union."  And  of  Wash- 
ington city  he  says,  **Even  in  the  War  Department 
and  about  the  public  offices  there  was  open,  uncon- 
cealed talk  amounting  to  high  treason." 

Channing  says  (Short  History  of  the  United 
States,  p.  303,  et  seq.),  '*At  first  it  seemed  as  if  Jeff 
Davis  was  right  when  he  said  that  the  Northerners 
would  not  fight."  And  Keifer  says  {Slavery  and 
Four  Years  of  War,  p.  172),  ^*0f  course  there  was 
a  troublesome  minority  North  who,  either  through 
political  perversity,  cowardice,  or  disloyalty,  never 

did  support  the  war,  at  least  willingly 

And  there  were  those  also,  even  in  New  England, 
who  had  never  had  an  opportunity  to  be  tainted  with 
slavery,  who  opposed  the  coercion  of  the  seceding 
States,  and  who  would  rather  have  seen  the  Union 

destroyed  than  saved  by  war Though 

patriotism  was  the  rule  with  persons  of  all  parties 
in  the  North,  there  were  yet  many  who  professed 
that  true  loyalty  lay  along  lines  other  than  the  pres- 
ervation of  the  Union  by  war. ' ' 

Leland  says  {Lincoln,  p.  Ill),  **Yet  .  .  .  the 
Democratic  press  of  the  North  and  the  rebel  organs 
of  the  South  continued  to  storm  at  the  President  for 
irritating  the  secessionists,  declaring  that  coercion 
or  resistance  of  the  Federal  Government  to  single 
States  was  illegaL"    And  (p.  103) :     .     .     .     ^^The 


THE  KEAL  LINCOLN  77 

Anti-War  party  was  so  powerful  in  the  North  that 
it  now  appears  almost  certain  that,  if  President 
Lincoln  had  proceeded  at  once  to  put  down  the  re- 
bellion with  a  strong  hand,  there  would  have  been 
a  counter-rebellion  in  the  North.  For  not  doing  this 
he  was  bitterly  blamed,  but  time  has  justified  him. 
By  his  forbearance,  Maryland,  Kentucky,  and  Mis- 
souri were  undoubtedly  kept  in  the  Federal  Union.'' 
.  .  .  ^^ Hitherto  (p.  105)  the  press  had  railed  at 
Lincoln  for  wanting  a  policy;  and  yet  if  he  had 
made  one  step  towards  suppressing  the  rebels  **a 
thousand  Northern  newspapers  would  have  pounced 
upon  him  as  one  provoking  war."  .  .  .  **It  is 
certain  (p.  168)  that  by  this  humane  and  wise  pol- 
icy"— not  sending  more  soldiers  through  Baltimore 
— ^which  many  attributed  to  cowardice,  President 
Lincoln  not  only  prevented  much  bloodshed  and  dev- 
astation, but  also  preserved  the  State  of  Maryland. 
In  such  a  crisis  harshly  aggressive  measures  in 
Maryland  would  have  irritated  millions  on  the  bor- 
der, and  perhaps  have  promptly  brought  the  war 
further  North." 


CHAPTER  X 

CHANGE   OF   THE   ISSUE STAR   OF   THE   WEST 

IINCOLN,  knowing  the  opposition  to  abolition 
^  and  coercion  and  the  readiness  to  resist  both 
that  has  been  shown  in  the  last  two  chapters  to  exist 
in  the  North  and  West,  disclaimed,  as  he  had  so 
often  done  before,  any  purpose  of  emancipation,  and 
disguised  even  in  his  Inaugural  whatever  purpose 
he  had  of  forcing  back  the  seceded  States,  and 
astutely  used  the  firing  on  Fort  Sumter  to  rouse 
the  war  spirit.  The  word  *^ astutely"  is  aptly  ap- 
plied, for  the  flag  had  been  fired  on  in  the  same  place 
two  months  earlier — an  exceedingly  important  fact 
which  has  been  very  strangely  ignored,  but  cannot 
be  denied.  The  steamer  Star  of  the  West  had  been  * 
sent  two  months  earlier,  January  9,  1861,  with  food 
and  two  hundred  recruits  ^  to  relieve  the  United 
States  garrison  in  Fort  Sumter,  and  while  flying 
the  great  flag  of  a  garrison  was  fired  on,  was  struck 
twice,  and  driven  away — **  retired  a  little  ignomini- 
ously,"  Morse  reports  it  (Lincoln,  Vol.  I,  p.  141); 
and  he  adds  that  Senator  Wigfall  jeered  insolently : 
'^Your  flag  has  been  insulted;   redress  it  if  you 

^  Nicolay  and  Hay's  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  VIII.,  p.  96,  et  seq. 

2  It  has  been  represented  that  the  only  purpose  of  the  Star  of  the  West  was 
to  feed  the  soldiers  of  the  garrison,  but,  like  Nicolay  and  Hay  above,  Chan- 
ning  in  his  History  of  the  United  States,  p.  313,  says  she  carried  "supplies 
and  soldiers,"  and  Greeley  says,  in  his  American  Conflict,  Vol.  I.,  p.  412, 
"with  two  hundred  men  and  ample  provisions." 

78 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  79 

dare."  John  A.  Logan  {Great  Conspiracy,  p.  143) 
adds  further  words  of  Senator  Wigfall,  ^^You  have 
submitted  to  it  for  two  months.''  George  William 
Curtis  (Orations  and  Addresses,  Vol.  I,  p.  141)  de- 
plores it  as  follows:  **We  were  unable  or  unwill- 
ing to  avenge  a  mortal  insult  to  our  own  flag  in  our 
own  waters  upon  the  Star  of  the  West."  Eopes  and 
Channing  ^  give  a  like  description  of  the  occurrence. 
Every  particular  above  given  about  the  Star  of  the 
West  is  confirmed  *  by  letters  of  J.  Holt,  Secretary 
of  War ;  of  L.  Thomas,  Assistant  Adjutant-General, 
and  of  Lieutenant  Charles  R.  Wood,  who  conducted 
the  expedition.  Thomas  instructed  Wood  to  expect 
to  be  fired  on  by  *^the  batteries  on  James'  or  Sul- 
livan's Island,"  and  Holt  wrote  Major  Anderson, 
commandant  of  Fort  Sumter,  ^^Your  forbearance  to 
return  the  fire  is  fully  appreciated  by  the  Presi- 
dent."'^ 

Dr.  E.  Benjamin  Andrews  says  {History  of  the 
United  States,  Vol.  II,  p.  50)  that  Major  Robert 
Anderson,  commanding  Fort  Sumter,  **was  ex- 
pressly forbidden, ' '  by  the  Government  in  Washing- 
ton, *Ho  interfere  with  the  erection  and  progress 
of  the  works  that  were  being  built  .  .  .  for 
use  against  his  fort." 

Russell  wrote  to  the  London  Times  from  America 
{My  Diary,  North  and  South,  p.  72,  et  seq.,  and  p. 
131  et  seq.) :    **It  is  absurd  to  assert     .     .     .     that 

3  Ropes'  Story  of  the  Civil  War,  Part  I.,  p.  45 ;  Channing's  Short  History 
of  the  United  States,  p.  313. 

*  War  of  the  Rebellion;  Official  Records  of  the  Union  and  Confederate 
Armies,  Series  I.,  Vol.  I.,  pp.   9,   10,    131-2,    137,    140. 

'•  For  Major  Anderson's  own  opinion  and  feeling  about  using  force  to  re- 
strain secession,   see  page  38  of  the  same  volume. 


80  THE  EEAL  LINCOLN 

the  sudden  outburst  when  Fort  Sumter  was  fired 
upon  was  caused  by  the  insult  to  the  flag.  Why,  the 
flag  had  been  fired  on  long  before  Sumter  was  at- 
tacked; ...  it  had  been  torn  down  from  the 
United  States  arsenals  and  forts  all  over  the  South 
and  fired  upon  when  the  Federal  flag  was  flying 
from  the  Star  of  the  West."  He  says,  too,  ** Seces- 
sion was  an  accomplished  fact  months  before  Lin- 
coln came  into  office,  but  we  heard  no  talk  of  rebels 
and  pirates  till  Sumter  had  fallen.  .  .  .  The 
North  was  perfectly  quiescent.  .  .  .  What  would 
not  the  value  of  ^the  glorious  burst'  of  patriotism 
have  been,  had  it  taken  place  before  the  Charleston 
batteries  had  opened  on  Sumter — when  the  Federal 
flag,  for  example,  was  fired  on  flying  from  the  Star 
of  the  West,  or  when  Beauregard  cut  off  supplies,  or 
Bragg  threatened  Pickens,  or  the  first  shovelful  of 
earth  was  thrown  up  in  hostile  battery.  But,  no. 
New  York  was  then  engaged  in  discussing  States' 
Eights  and  in  reading  articles  to  prove  that  the  new 
Government  would  be  traitors  if  they  endeavored 
to  reinforce  the  Federal  forts."  Gen.  Wm.  T. 
Sherman  says  {Memoir,  Vol.  II,  p.  382):  ^^  After 
the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  in  1860,  there  was  no 
concealment  of  the  declaration  and  preparation  for 
war  in  the  South.  In  Louisiana,  as  I  have  related, 
men  were  openly  enlisted,  officers  were  appointed, 
and  war  was  actually  begun,  in  January,  1861.  The 
forts  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  were  seized, 
and  occupied  by  garrisons  that  hauled  down  the 
United  States  flag  and  hoisted  that  of  the  State. 
The  United   States   arsenal   at  Baton  Eouge  was 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  81 

captured  by  New  Orleans  militia,  its  garrison  igno- 
miniously  sent  off,  and  the  contents  of  the  arsenal 
distributed.  These  were  as  much  acts  of  war  as  was 
the  subsequent  firing  on  Fort  Sumter,  yet  no  public 
notice  was  taken  thereof."  .  .  .  This  *^ firing  on 
the  flag''  on  the  Star  of  the  West  produced  no  sensa- 
tion at  all,  but  was  accepted  by  the  whole  country  as 
an  accompaniment  of  the  secession  of  the  States. 

Burgess  says  {The  Civil  War  and  the  Constitu- 
tion, Vol.  I,  p.  106)  *Hhe  firing  upon  the  Star  of  the 
West  was  really  the  beginning  of  the  war  of  the 
rebellion —  .  .  .  (p.  107)  the  Administration 
simply  chose  not  so  to  regard  it ;  .  .  .  Congress 
was  not  prepared  for  it,  and  it  is  not  certain  that 
the  people  of  the  North  would  then  have  rallied  to 
the  President's  support." 

If  there  is  still  any  need  of  apology  for  the  action  of 
the  Confederate  Government  in  forcibly  seizing  Fort 
Sumter,  as  it  had  for  many  weeks  been  seizing  other 
forts  within  its  territory,  we  have  the  defense  of  it 
formulated  by  Greeley  and  recorded  without  objec- 
tion or  comment  by  Burgess,  who  quotes  {The  Civil 
War  and  the  Constitution,  p.  167)  Greeley's  words, 
that  ^^the  Confederacy  had  no  alternative  to  an  at- 
tack upon  Fort  Sumter  except  its  own  dissolution." 

We  have  learned  afresh  of  late  the  meaning  of 
the  words  used  above,  'Ho  arouse  the  war  spirit.'^ 
A  very  respectable  part  of  the  wisdom  and  virtue 
of  this  country  deplored  and  reprobated  the  war 
lately  waged  by  the  United  States  in  the  Philip- 
pines, and  yet  did  make,  and  could  make,  no  opposi- 
tion, but  supported  the  war  just  as  those  did  who 


82  THE  KEAL  LINCOLN 

approved  it  most  warmly.  We  know  now  that  a  war, 
once  begun,  sweeps  into  its  suport,  not  only  the 
regular  army,  the  navy,  and  the  treasury,  but  vol- 
unteer organizations  and  the  youth  of  the  country, 
who  think  they  must  respond  to  any  national  call  for 
arms.  That  this  **war  spirit"  sent  large  armies  to 
the  field  is  well  known.  But  Rhodes  says  {History 
of  the  United  States,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  404),  ^^Had  the 
North  thoroughly  understood  the  problem;  had  it 
known  that  the  people  of  the  Cotton  States  were 
practically  unanimous;  that  the  action  of  Virginia, 
North  Carolina,  and  Tennessee  was  backed  by  a 
large  and  generous  majority,  it  might  have  refused 
to  undertake  the  seemingly  unachievable  task. 
.  .  .  (p.  405).  It  is  impossible  to  escape  the  con- 
viction that  the  action  of  the  North  was  largely 
based  on  a  misconception  of  the  strength  of  the  dis- 
union sentiment  in  the  Confederate  States.  The 
Northern  people  accepted  the  gage  of  war  and  came 
to  the  support  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States  on  the  theory  that  a  majority  of  all  the 
Southern  States  except  South  Carolina  were  at 
heart  for  the  Union,  and  that  if  these  loyal  men 
were  encouraged  and  protected  they  would  make 
themselves  felt  in  a  movement  looking  towards 
allegiance  to  the  National  Government. ' ' 

Rhodes  is  an  historian  who  speaks  with  very  high 
authority.  May  not  the  concession  that  he  makes 
above  be  called  an  apology  for  a  great  wrong  done 
the  South.  And  does  it  not  suggest  the  question 
who  it  was  that  led  the  North  into  the  *^  misconcep- 
tion" that  he  describes? 


CHAPTER  Xr 

RESISTANCE    IN    CONGRESS 

THE  attitude  of  Congress  towards  coercion  and 
emancipation  is  our  best  guide  as  to  the  atti- 
tude of  their  constituents — the  people  of  the  States 
called  ''loyal."  Horace  Greeley  comments  as  fol- 
lows on  the  concession  made  in  President  Buchan- 
an's last  message  that  he  had  no  authority  to  use 
force  against  secession  (American  Conflict,  Vol.  I, 
p.  272):  .  .  .  ''This  assertion  of  the  radical 
impotence  of  the  Government  ...  on  the  part 
of  the  President  was  received  in  Congress  with  gen- 
eral and  concerted  taciturnity.'*  .  .  .  Greeley 
(Vol.  I,  p.  370)  commends  ardently  the  long  and 
distinguished  career  of  John  J.  Crittenden,  and  out- 
lines the  Crittenden  Compromise  proposed  by  him 
as  follows:  "It  allows  slavery  in  the  Territories 
south  of  36°  31  %  and  says  that  States  from  south  of 
that  line  may  come  in  as  Slave  States.  It  protects 
slavery  and  its  owners  in  the  District,  so  long  as  it 
exists  in  Virginia  and  Maryland,  or  either.  The 
United  States  shall  pay  the  owners  of  slaves,  where 
they  are  obstructed  by  the  people  of  a  county  in 
using  the  law  for  recovery  of  a  fugitive  slave.  It 
gives  assurance  that  no  amendment  in  the  future 
shall  give  Congress  the  power  to  interfere  with 
slavery  in  the  States.  It  pronounces  the  Personal 
Liberty  Laws  null  and  void."    Greeley  is  hotly  in- 

83 


84  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

dignant  that  such  should  have  been  the  feeling  of 
Congress,  but  he  goes  on  (Vol.  I,  p.  380):  ^'The 
Conservatives  J  so  called,  were  still  able  to  establish 
this  Crittenden  Compromise  by  their  own  proper 
strength,  had  they  been  disposed  to  do  so.  The 
President  was  theirs ;  the  Senate  strongly  theirs ;  in 
the  House  they  had  a  small  majority,  as  was  evinced 
by  their  defeat  of  John  Sherman  for  Speaker." 

As  conclusive  proof  that  the  North  and  West  had 
no  such  purpose  as  emancipation,  Schouler  {History 
of  the  United  States,  Vol.  V,  p.  507)  says  of  the  ac- 
tion of  Congress,  after  Lincoln's  inauguration,  as 
follows:  '^One  proposed  amendment,  and  only  one, 
was  sent  out  with  the  constitutional  assent  of  the 
two  Houses  ;^  not  as  a  compromise,  but  as  a  pledge. 
It  provided  that  no  amendment  should  be  made  to 
the  Constitution  authorizing  Congress  to  abolish  or 
interfere  within  any  State  with  the  domestic  insti- 
tution of  slavery.  .  .  .  Eepublicans,  Democrats, 
and  the  great  mass  of  the  loyal  citizens  at  the  North 
were  willing  to  be  bound  by  such  an  assurance,  hand 
and  foot,  if  need  be,  in  proof  that  they  meant  no 
aggression.''  Is  it  necessary  to  suppose  they  made 
any  sacrifice  in  giving  assurance  that  they  would 
not  interfere,  in  view  of  the  vast  amount  of  evidence 
that  they  did  not  think  they  ought  to  interfere  and 
had  no  inclination  to  interfere? 

Dr.  E.  Benjamin  Andrews  confirms  the  above 
accounts  of  the  Crittenden  Compromise  that  was 
proposed  and  the  amendment  that  was  passed  in 

*  In  a  note  Schouler  gives  the  vote  on  it  in  the  House  as  133  to  65,  and  in 
the  Senate  as  24  to  12. 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  85 

Congress  {History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  II, 
p.  97),  as  follows:  ^'Both  Houses,  each  by  more 
than  two-thirds  majority,  recommended  a  constitu- 
tional amendment  depriving  Congress  forever  of 
the  power  to  touch  slavery  in  any  State  without  the 
consent  of  all  the  States."  And  he  says  of  the  Crit- 
tenden Compromise  above  described,  **This  meas- 
ure, before  Congress  all  winter,  was  finally  lost  for 
lack  of  Southern  votes." 

How  far  Congress  was  from  approving  the  Eman- 
cipation Proclamation  may  be  judged  by  the  fol- 
lowing words  of  Rhodes  (Vol.  IV,  p.  215)  about 
Lincoln's  recommendation  of  emancipation  in  his 
Message  of  December,  1862:  **  Owing  to  distrust  of 
him  and  his  waning  popularity,  his  recommenda- 
tions in  this  message  were  not  considered  by  Con- 
gress, nor  had  they,  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to 
ascertain,  any  notable  influence  on  public  senti- 
ment." 

Boutwell  describes  {Lincoln,  Tributes  from  His 
Associates,  p.  87)  Lincoln's  dealings  with  one  of  the 
amendments  and  the  reluctance  of  Congress,  as  fol- 
lows: *^  Slavery  existed  in  States  that  had  not  en- 
gaged in  the  rebellion,  and  the  legality  of  the 
Emancipation  Proclamation  might  be  drawn  in 
question  in  the  courts.  One  thing  more  was  wanted 
— an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  abolishing 
slavery  everywhere  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
United  States. 

The  preliminary  resolution  was  secured  after  a 
protracted  struggle  in  Congress,  and  the  result  was 
due,  in  a  pre-eminent  degree,  to  the  personal  and 


86  THE  KEAL  LINCOLN 

oflficial  influence  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  In  one  phrase  it 
may  be  said  that  every  power  of  his  office  was  ex- 
erted to  secure  in  the  Thirty-eighth  Congress  the 
passage  of  the  resolution  by  which  the  proposed 
amendment  was  submitted  to  the  States. '''' 

Nicolay  and  Hay  say  (Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  IV, 
p.  38)  that  even  when  his  most  subservient  Con- 
gress subsequently  'legalized"  his  usurpations, 
^^  there  was  about  the  action  a  certain  hesitation 
which  robbed  it  of  the  grace  of  spontaneous  gener- 
osity.'' How  persistent  the  opposition  continued 
to  be  may  be  judged  by  the  fact  that  Mr.  Lincoln's 
Emancipation  Proclamation  failed,  as  late  as  June, 
1864,  to  get  in  Congress  the  two-thirds  vote  neces- 
sary to  fix  it  in  the  Constitution,  and  had  to  go  over 
to  the  next  session,  when  the  war  was  practically 
ended. 

'  In  connection  with  Boutwell's  account  of  the  way  the  "preliminary  reso- 
lution" was  passed  in  Congress  for  this  amendment,  it  will  be  interesting  to 
see,  in  the  chapter  headed  Fictitious  States,  how  enough  States  were  voted 
to  pass  the  amendment. 


CHAPTER  XII 

OPPOSITION    IN    THE   EEGULAB  AKMY 

COL.  A.  K.  McCLURE  says  {Lincoln  and  Men  of 
the  War  Time,  p.  56),  ^'When  Lincoln  turned 
to  the  military  arm  of  the  Government,  he  was  ap- 
palled by  the  treachery  of  the  men  to  whom  the 
nation  should  look  for  its  preservation."  Scarcely 
any  were  so  devoted  to  the  flag,  none  knew  so  well 
the  seriousness  of  the  step,  as  the  officers  of  the 
regular  army,  but,  notwithstanding,  Ida  Tarbell 
says,"  three  hundred  and  thirteen,  nearly  one-third, 
resigned.  General  Keifer  says  (Slavery  and  Four 
Years  of  War,  p.  171)  that  about  March,  1861,  *' dis- 
loyalty among  prominent  officers  was  for  a  while 
the  rule."  General  Butler  says  that  General  Scott, 
commander  of  the  army,  recommended  to  the  Presi- 
dent (Butler's  Book,  p.  99  and  p.  142)  *Hhat  the 
wayward  sisters  be  allowed  to  depart  in  peace," 
meaning  the  seceded  States,  and  Butler's  story  is 
confirmed  by  Channing  (Short  History  of  the  United 
States,  p.  380,  et  seq.),  George  Ticknor  Curtis 
gives  (Life  of  James  Buchanan,  Vol.  II,  p.  297)  the 
particulars  of  General  Scott's  ** views,"  submitted 
to  President  Buchanan,  dated  October  9, 1860,  which 
provided  for  a  division  of  the  Union  into  four  sepa- 
rate confederacies.  Ida  Tarbell  shows  '  that  General 

*  McOlure's  Magazine  for  February,  1899. 

*  McClure's  Magazine  for  April,  1899,  p.  263. 

87 


88  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

Scott  recommended  to  the  President  the  withdrawal 
of  the  United  States  troops  from  Fort  Sumter  and 
from  Fort  Pickens  in  Pensacola  harbor.  Much  pity 
has  been  spent  on  Major  Anderson,  cut  off  from 
supplies  and  bombarded  in  Fort  Sumter,  but  one 
of  Lincoln's  eulogists  has  to  rejoice  now  that  he 
was  spared  the  pain  of  reading  the  reproaches  con- 
tained in  a  letter  written  him  by  Major  Anderson, 
censuring  him  for  proposing  to  use  force.  The  let- 
ter miscarried.  We  have  other  letters  of  Major 
Anderson's  showing  that  he,  like  Scott  and  Seward, 
and  the  rest,  thought  coercion  out  of  the  question. 
He  wrote,^  signing  officially,  to  Thomas,  United 
States  Adjutant-General,  earnestly  deprecating  the 
expedition  proposed  to  bring  him  reinforcements  in 
Fort  Sumter,  saying,  *^I  frankly  say  that  my  heart 
is  not  in  the  war  that  I  see  is  to  be  commenced. 
That  God  will  still  avert  it,  and  cause  us  to  revert 
to  pacific  measures  to  maintain  our  rights,  is  my 
ardent  prayer."  Nicolay,  too,*  tells  of  a  reproachful 
letter  that  Anderson  wrote  Lincoln  about  using 
force  at  Fort  Sumter.  Major-General  Abner  Dou- 
bleday  gives  {Battles  and  Leaders  of  the  Civil  War, 
Vol.  I,  p.  40,  et  seq.)  a  very  full  account,  as  eye- 
witness of  Anderson's  whole  course,  in  accord  with 
the  above.  Ehodes  {History  of  the  United  States, 
Vol.  IV,  p.  72)  quotes  from  a  letter  of  Senator 
Sumner  to  John  Bright,  that  Lincoln  had  answered 
Bright,  who  urged  him  to  issue  an  edict  of  emanci- 

3  War  of  the  Rebellion;  Official  Records  of  the  Union  and  Confederate 
Armies,  Series  I.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  294. 

*  In  the  earlier  book  that  he  wrote,  The  Outbreak  of  the  Rebellion,  at 
page  55. 


THE  KEAL  LINCOLN  89 

pation,  **I  would  do  it  if  I  were  not  afraid  that  half 
the  officers  would  fling  down  their  arms  and  three 
more  States  would  rise."  Hamlin  says  (Life  and 
Times  of  Hannibal  Hamlin,  p.  430),  ^^Yet  many  a 
gallant  Union  officer  .  .  .  declared  disdainfully 
that  he  would  not  fight  for  the  Abolitionists." 
.  .  .  Schouler  says  (History/  of  the  United 
States,  Vol.  VI,  p.  218),  that  in  1861  ^^  Sherman  and 
Buell  in  Kentucky,  Dix  in  Maryland,  and  Halleck 
in  Missouri,  slave  regions  less  positively  disloyal, 
took  a  more  conservative  attitude,  and  ordered 
slaves  to  be  kept  out  of  their  lines,"  instead  of  en- 
couraging them  to  leave  their  masters.  Rhodes 
says  (Vol.  IV,  p.  182)  that  Governor  0.  P.  Morton, 
of  Indiana,  charged,  in  his  official  communications 
to  Washington,  General  Rosecrans  with  being  a 
rebel  sympathizer,  which  Rhodes  records,  though  he 
does  not  believe  it  true,  Rosecrans  being  the  prede- 
cessor of  Buell,  Grant's  predecessor  in  the  chief 
command  in  the  West.  Rhodes  says  (History  of  the 
United  States,  Vol.  IV,  p.  335),  ^^The  attitude  of  all 
but  three  of  Grant's  corps  commanders  on  the  19th 
of  April,  1862,  may  be  inferred  from  the  following 
letter  of  Grant  to  Halleck  of  that  date:  *^At  best 
three  of  my  army  corps  commanders  take  hold  of 
the  new  policy  of  arming  the  negroes  and  using  them 
against  the  enemy  with  a  will.  They,  at  least,  are 
so  much  of  soldiers  as  to  feel  themselves  under  ob- 
ligation to  carry  out  a  policy  which  they  would  not 
inaugurate,  in  the  same  good  faith  and  with  the 
same  zeal  as  if  it  was  of  their  own  choosing.' 
Rhodes   quotes    (History   of  the   United   States, 


90  THE  KEAL  LINCOLN 

Vol.  IV,  p.  73)  from  Greeley's  *  Sprayer  of  twenty 
million,"  elsewhere  described  in  this  book,  the  fol- 
lowing: .  .  ,  **A  large  portion  of  our  regular 
officers,  with  many  of  the  volunteers,  evidence  far 
more  solicitude  to  uphold  slavery  than  to  put  down 
the  rebellion." 


CHAPTER  XIII 

OPPOSITION  IN"  THE  VOLUNTEER  ARMY 

IT  WOULD  be  supposed  that  however  many,  as 
above  shown,  of  the  people  of  the  North  and 
West  opposed  or  disapproved  the  war,  it  had  the 
ardent  support  of  all  the  soldiers  at  least  who  vol- 
unteered **to  defend  the  flag"  on  Lincoln's  first  call 
for  seventy-five  thousand  men.  About  this  we  get 
a  strange  enlightenment  in  the  account  given  by 
Eussell  {My  Diary ^  North  and  South,  p.  155,  et  seq.) 
of  his  meeting  the  Fourth  Pennsylvania  Eegiment 
going  home  from  the  Bull  Run  battlefield  to  the 
sound  of  the  cannon  that  opened  the  battle.  A  note 
on  page  553  of  Greeley's  American  Conflict  de- 
scribes the  same  from  General  McDowell's  official 
report  of  the  battle  of  Bull  Run,*  how  on  the  eve  of 
battle  the  Fourth  Pennsylvania  Regiment  of  Volun- 
teers and  the  battery  of  artillery  of  the  Eighth  New 
York  Militia,  whose  term  of  service  had  expired,  in- 
sisted on  their  discharge,  though  the  General  and 
the  Secretary  of  War,  both  on  the  spot,  tried  hard 
to  make  them  stay  five  more  days;  .  .  .  **and 
the  next  morning,  when  the  army  moved  into  battle, 
these  troops  moved  to  the  rear  to  the  sound  of  the 
enemy's  guns,  every  moment  becoming  more  dis- 

*  See  the  account  of  it  in  General  McDowell's  report  of  the  battle,  in  the 
War  of  the  Rebellion;  Official  Records  of  the  Union  and  Confederate  Armies, 
Series  I.,  Vol.  II.,  p.  325. 

31 


92  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

tinct  and  more  heavy."  And  Greeley  goes  on  to 
say,  **It  should  here  be  added  that  a  member  of 
the  New  York  battery  aforesaid,  who  was  most 
earnest  and  active  in  opposing  General  McDowell's 
request  and  insisting  on  an  immediate  discharge, 
was  at  the  next  election,  in  full  view  of  all  the  facts, 
chosen  sheriff  of  the  city  of  New  York — probably 
the  most  lucrative  office  filled  by  popular  election  in 
the  country."'' 

In  the  Outlook  of  September  6,  1902,  the  Eev.  Ed- 
ward Everett  Hale  quotes  as  of  unchallenged  his- 
toric value  a  letter  written  three  weeks  after  the 
battle  of  Bull  Run  by  a  gentleman  in  an  important 
political  position  in  Washington,  which  attributes 
like  shameful  desertion  in  the  face  of  the  enemy  to 
^Various  batteries,"  and  their  welcome  home.  He 
goes  on,  ^^How  does  the  country  behave?  .  .  . 
The  poltroons,  ....  have  you  hung  any  of 
them  yet  in  Boston?  ....  And  the  people  of 
New  York  let  these  people  return  to  their  busi- 
ness!" 

Russell  gives  as  the  reason  why  General  Patter- 
son did  not  bring  his  army  from  the  upper  Potomac 
to  help  General  McDowell  at  Bull  Run,'  that  *^out 
of  twenty-three  regiments  composing  his  force, 
nineteen  refused  to  stay  an  hour  after  their  time." 
Can  any  explanation  be  suggested  but  that  these 
soldiers  and  their  friends  at  home  reprobated  the 

2  If  it  was  possible  to  conceive  of  any  of  the  soldiers  on  the  Southern  side 
so  deserting  the  field  that  day,  where  would  they  have  found  kinsman  or 
friend  to  give  them  shelter,  food,  or  water,  from  that  day  forward? 

^  My  Diary,  North  and  South,  p.  179;  see,  too,  Channing's  Short  History  of 
the  United  States,  p.  308,  et  seq. 


THE  KEAL  LINCOLN  93 

task  to  which  they  were  ordered?  We  have  General 
Patterson's  report  to  General  Scott*  of  his  repeated 
unsuccessful  appeals  to  his  men  not  to  leave  the 
army  with  the  enemy  in  their  very  presence.  He 
furthermore  complained  (p.  175)  that  his  own  zeal 
and  loyalty  to  the  cause  was  publicly  impeached,  and 
General  Scott's  contemptuous  answer  (p.  178)  gives 
no  sort  of  contradiction  to  the  charges.  Eussell 
says  (Mi/  Diary,  North  and  South ,  p.  179),  *'The 
outcry  against  Patterson  has  not  yet  subsided, 
though"  .  .  .  nineteen  out  of  twenty-three  of 
his  regiments  refused  to  stay  in  the  field,  as  shown 
above.  Gen.  W.  T.  Sherman  says  (his  Memoir y  Vol. 
I,  p.  188),  four  days  after  the  first  battle  of  Manas- 
sas, or  Bull  Pun,  .  .  .  *  ^  I  had  my  brigade  about 
as  well  governed  as  any  in  that  army,  although  most 
of  the  ninety-day  men,  especially  the  Sixty-ninth, 
had  become  exceedingly  tired  of  the  war  and  wanted 
to  go  home.  Some  of  them  were  so  mutinous,  at 
one  time,  that  I  had  Ayre's  battery  to  unlimber 
threatening  if  any  dared  leave  camp  without  orders, 
I  would  open  fire  on  them."  Pages  188  to  191  de- 
scribe a  mutiny  with  Lincoln  present,  and  end  with, 
**This  spirit  of  mutiny  was  common  to  the  whole 
army,  and  was  not  subdued  till  several  regiments, 
or  parts  of  regiments,  had  been  ordered  to  Fort 
Jefferson,  Florida,  as  punishment." 

The  above  is  hard  to  reconcile  with  the  popular 
belief  that  the  early  campaigns  were  pushed  with  en- 
thusiasm by  the  volunteers.    Later,  at  the  time  when 

*  War    of    the    Rebellion;    Offlcial   Records    of    the    Union    and    Confederate 
Armies,  Series  I..  Vol.  II.,  pp.   166-170. 


94  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

General  Hooker  took  command  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  we  have  Hooker's  testimony,  quoted  from 
the  Eeport  of  the  Congressional  Committee  on  the 
Conduct  of  the  War,  by  Col.  Henderson,  of  the 
English  Army  {Life  of  Stonewall  Jachson,  Vol.  II, 
p.  505),  **At  the  time  the  army  was  turned  over  to 
me,  desertions  were  at  the  rate  of  about  two  hundred 
a  day.''  Then,  after  describing,  in  his  words  else- 
where quoted,  the  efforts  of  great  numbers  of  the 
people  at  home  to  induce  the  soldiers  to  desert,  he 
goes  on  as  follows:  ^^At  that  time  perhaps  a  ma- 
jority of  the  officers,  especially  those  high  in  rank, 
were  hostile  to  the  policy  of  the  Government  in  the 
conduct  of  the  war.  The  Emancipation  Proclama- 
tion had  been  published  a  short  time  before,  and  a 
large  element  of  the  army  had  taken  sides  antago- 
nistic to  it,  declaring  they  would  never  have  em- 
barked in  the  war  had  they  anticipated  the  action  of 
the  Government." 

Major-General  John  E.  Wool  wrote  Secretary 
Stanton,  September  3,  1862,'  ^^We  have  now  more 
treason  in  the  army  than  we  can  well  get  along  with. ' ' 

Ida  Tarbell  says,**  ^^  Nothing  could  have  been  de- 
vised which  would  have  created  a  louder  uproar  in 
the  North  than  the  suggestion  of  a  draft.  All  through 
the  winter  of  1862-63  Congress  wrangled  over  the 
bill  ordering  it,  much  of  the  press  denouncing  it 
meantime  as  despotic  and  contrary  to  American 
institutions."  General  Grant  says  {Memoir,  Vol.  II, 
p.  23)  that  during  August,  1864,  **  right  in  the  midst 

"  War  of  the  Rebellion;  Official  Records  of  the  Union  and  Confederate 
Armies,  Series  III.,  Vol.  II.,  p.  509. 

^  McOlure's  Magazine,  Vol.  XIII.,  for  June,  1899,  p.  156. 


THE  KEAL  LINCOLN  95 

of  these  embarrassments,  Halleck  informed  me  that 
there  was  an  organized  scheme  on  foot  to  resist  the 
draft,  and  suggested  that  it  might  become  necessary 
to  withdraw  troops  from  the  field  to  put  it  down." 
Nicolay  and  Hay  (VoL  VI,  p.  3)  tell  of  violent  re- 
sistance to  the  draft  in  Pennsylvania. 

About  the  volunteer  soldiers'  attitude  toward 
emancipation  we  find  the  following: 

Schouler  says  of  General  B.  F.  Butler  {History  of 
the  United  States,  Vol.  VI,  p.  216),  When  he  reached 
Maryland,  under  the  first  call  to  arms,  *^he  offered 
the  use  of  his  regiment,  as  a  Massachusetts  Briga- 
dier, to  put  down  any  slave  uprising  that  might 
occur  there."  Nicolay  and  Hay  say  (Abraham  Lin- 
coln, Vol.  I,  p.  185)  that  the  Union  army  showed  the 
strongest  sympathy  with  its  always  immensely  pop- 
ular general,  McClellan,  in  his  bold  protests  against 
emancipation,  and  that  there  was  actual  danger  of 
revolt  in  the  army  against  the  Emancipation  Procla- 
mation when  General  Burnside  turned  over  the 
command  of  his  army  of  one  hundred  and  twenty 
thousand  men  to  General  Hooker  in  Virginia.  In 
Warden's  Life  of  Chase  (p.  485,  et  seq.)  a  letter  of 
September,  1862,  from  Chase  to  John  Sherman,  says : 
*^I  hear  from  all  sources  that  nearly  all  the  officers 
in  Buell's  army,  and  that  Buell  himself,  are  pro- 
slavery  in  the  last  degree."  From  Hilton  Head, 
South  Carolina,  General  0.  M.  Mitchell  reported  to 
Secretary  Stanton,'  September  20,  1862,  **I  find  a 
feeling  prevailing  among  the  officers  and  soldiers  of 

''War    of    the    Rebellion;    Official    Records    of    the    Union    and    Confederate 
Armies,  Series  II.,  Vol.  XIV.,  p.  438. 


96  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

prejudice  against  the  blacks;  .  .  .  am  entirely 
certain  that  under  existing  organization  there  is 
little  hope  of  allaying  or  destroying  a  feeling  widely 
prevalent  and  fraught  with  the  most  injurious  con- 
sequences." Page  431  shows  the  same  General, 
writing  to  Halleck,  General  in  Chief  at  Washington, 
in  March,  1863,  ^*I  was  thus  saddled  with  pro-slavery 
generals  in  whom  I  had  not  the  least  confidence." 


CHAPTER  XIV 

OPPOSITION  TO  THE  EMANCIPATION  PKOCLAMATION 

CHANNING  says  {Short  History  of  the  United 
States,  p.  329)  of  freeing  the  slaves  as  a  war 
measure,  that  though  he  knew  he  had  a  perfect  right 
to  do  it,  Lincoln  knew  that  public  opinion  in  the 
North  would  not  approve  this  action. 

A.  K.  McClure,  discussing  the  question  whether 
to  emancipate,  speaks  of  .  .  .  ^Hhe  shivering 
hesitation  of  even  Eepublicans  throughout  the 
North/'    .    . 

The  same  says,^  *^The  Emancipation  Proclamation 
had  been  issued  that  caused  a  cold  chill  throughout 
the  Eepublican  ranks,  and  there  was  little  prospect 
of  filling  up  the  broken  ranks  of  our  army. ' '  And  the 
same  McClure  refers  (p.  228)  to  the  *^ blatant  dis- 
loyalty that  was  heard  in  many  places  throughout 
the  North." 

Rhodes  says  {History  of  the  United  States^  Vol. 
IV,  p.  162),  *^But  Lincoln  himself,  with  his  delicate 
touch  on  the  pulse  of  public  opinion,  detected  that 
there  was  a  lack  of  heartiness  in  the  response  of  the 
Northern  people. ' '  In  his ' '  strictly  private ' '  letter  to 
Hamlin,  the  Vice-President,  he  manifested  his  keen 
disappointment.  ^* While  I  hope  something  from  the 
proclamation,"  he  wrote,  **my  expectations  are  not 
as  sanguine- as  those  of  some  friends.    The  time  for 

^Recollections  of  Half  a  Century,  copyright,   1902,  p.  220. 

97 


98  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

its  effect  southward  has  not  come ;  but  northward  the 
effect  should  be  instantaneous.  It  is  six  days  old, 
and  while  commendation  in  the  newspapers  and  by- 
distinguished  men  is  all  that  a  vain  man  could  wish, 
the  stocks  have  declined  and  troops  come  forward 
more  slowly  than  ever.  This,  looked  soberly  in  the 
face,  is  not  very  satisfactory. ' ' 

Henderson  {Life  of  Stonewall  Jackson,  Vol.  II, 
p.  355,  et  seq.)y  though  he  commends  with  ardor  Lin- 
coln's issue  of  the  Emancipation  Proclamation,  says 
that  by  it  'Hhe  Constitution  was  deliberately  vio- 
lated," and  that  **the  armies  of  the  Union  were 
called  upon  to  fight  for  the  freedom  of  the  negro;" 
.  .  .  that  '^the  measure  was  daring.  It  was  not 
approved  by  the  Democrats — and  many  of  the  sol- 
diers were  Democrats — or  by  those — and  they  were 
not  a  few — who  believed  that  compromise  was  the 
surest  means  of  restoring  peace;  .  .  .  who 
thought  the  dissolution  of  the  Union  a  smaller  evil 
than  the  continuance  of  the  war.  The  opposition 
was  very  strong."     .    .    . 

A.  B.  Hart  says  {Life  of  Salmon  P.  Chase,  p.  309), 
.  .  .  *'But  one  of  the  effects  ...  of  the  first 
Proclamation  of  Emancipation  was  an  increase  of 
the  Democratic  vote  in  Ohio  and  in  Indiana,  and  the 
consequent  election  of  many  Democratic  members  of 
Congress." 

In  the  Life  and  Times  of  Hannibal  Hamlin,  by 
Chas.  Eugene  Hamlin,  Cambridge,  1899,  pp.  436, 
437,  we  find  the  following :  ^  ^  The  generally  accepted 
explanation  of  the  Eepublican  reverses  in  the  elec- 
tion of  1862  is  that  they  were  primarily  due  to  the 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  99 

Emancipation  Proclamation,  which  was  issued  in 
September.'' 

Dr.  Holland  says  {Abraham  Lincoln,  1866,  p.  408) 
*^  Either  through  the  failure  of  McClellan's  cam- 
paign, or  the  effect  of  the  emancipation,  or  the  in- 
fluence of  both  together,  the  Administration  had 
received  a  rebuke  through  the  autumn  elections  of 
1862."  Rhodes  says  {History  of  the  United  States, 
Vol.  IV,  p.  163),  *'In  October  and  November  elec- 
tions took  place  in  the  principal  States,  with  the  re- 
sults that  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania, 
Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Wisconsin,  all  of  which 
except  New  Jersey  had  cast  their  electoral  votes  for 
Lincoln,  declared  against  the  party  in  power.  A  new 
House  of  Representatives  was  chosen,  the  Democrats 
making  conspicuous  gains  in  the  States  mentioned. 
The  same  ratio  of  gain  extended  to  the  other  States 
would  have  given  them  the  control  of  the  next 
House — a  disaster  from  which  the  Administration 
was  saved  by  New  England,  Michigan,  Iowa,  and  the 
Border  Slave  States.  The  elections  came  near  being 
what  the  steadfast  Republican  journal,  the  New 
York  Times,  declared  them  to  be,  *A  vote  of  want 
of  confidence  in  the  President.'  Since  the  elections 
followed  so  closely  upon  the  Proclamation  of  Eman- 
cipation, it  is  little  wonder  that  the  Democrats  de- 
clared that  the  people  protested  against  Lincoln's 
surrender  ^  to  the  radicals,  which  was  their  construc- 
tion of  the  change  of  policy  from  a  war  for  the  Union 
to  a  war  for  the  Negro.  Many  writers  have  since 
agreed  with  them  in  this  interpretation  of  the  result. 

'  Observe  the  significant  word  used  by  Rhodes. 


100  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

No  one  can  doubt  that  it  was  a  contributing  force 
operating  with  these  other  influences :  the  corruption 
in  the  War  Department  before  Stanton  became  Sec- 
retary, the  suppression  of  free  speech  and  freedom 
of  the  press,  arbitrary  arrests  which  had  continued 
to  be  made  by  military  orders  of  the  Secretary  of 
War." 

Nicolay  and  Hay  record  (Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol. 
II,  p.  261)  great  losses  in  the  elections  in  conse- 
quence of  the  Emancipation  Proclamation.  General 
B.  F.  Butler  says  (Butler's  Book,  p.  536) :  ^'Novem- 
ber came,  and  with  it  the  elections  in  the  various 
States.  The  returns  were  ominous  and  dishearten- 
ing enough.  Everywhere  there  was  reaction  of  feel- 
ing adverse  to  the  Administration.  In  the  strong 
Eepublican  States  majorities  were  reduced.  In  all 
others  the  opposition  was  triumphant  and  the  Ad- 
ministration party  defeated.  .  .  .  Among  the 
causes  of  the  defeat  was  opposition  to  the  Govern- 
ment's anti-slavery  policy.''  And  Butler  quotes 
from  a  letter  of  Seward  to  his  wife  that  ''the  returns 
were  ominous;"  that  in  all  but  strong  Eepublican 
States  "the  opposition  was  triumphant  and  the 
Administration  party  defeated."  Ida  Tarbell,  in 
McClure's  Magazine  for  January,  1899  (p.  165), 
says:  "Many  and  many  a  man  deserted  in  the  win- 
ter of  1862-1863  because  of  the  Emancipation  Proc- 
lamation. He  did  not  believe  the  President  had  the 
right  to  issue  it,  and  he  refused  to  fight.  Lincoln 
knew,  too,  that  the  Copperhead  agitation  had  reached 
the  army,  and  that  hundreds  of  them  were  being 
urged  by  parents  and  friends  hostile  to  the  Adminis- 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  101 

tration  to  desert."  Page  162  shows  that  Lincoln, 
himself  *  ^  comprehended  the  failure  to  respond  to  the 
emancipation  or  to  support  the  war;"  that  (p.  163) 
*^New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois, 
and  Wisconsin  reversed  their  vote,  and  the  House 
showed  great  Democratic  gains."  A.  K.  McClure's 
(Lincoln  and  Men  of  the  War  Times,  p.  112,  et  seq,) 
says:  *^ There  was  no  period  from  January,  1864, 
until  3d  of  September,  when  McClellan  would  not 
have  defeated  Lincoln  for  President. ' ' 

Charles  A.  Dana,  in  his  Recollections  of  the  Civil 
War  (p.  180,  et  seq.)  says:  *^The  people  of  the 
North  might  themselves  have  become  half  rebels  if 
this  proclamation  had  been  issued  too  soon,"  and 
that  *'two  years  before,  perhaps,  the  consequences 
of  it  might  have  been  our  entire  defeat." 

The  Emancipation  Proclamation  has  been  de- 
scribed in  song  and  story,  on  canvas  and  in  marble, 
as  a  joyous  and  exultant  announcement  of  freedom 
to  the  slaves.  See  how  differently  Ida  Tarbell  de- 
scribes it  and  its  author,  and  she  is  almost  a  wor- 
shipper of  Lincoln.  She  says:  **At  last  (p.  525, 
et  seq.)  the  Emancipation  Proclamation  was  a  fact, 
but  there  was  little  rejoicing  in  his  heart,  ...  no 
exultation ;  .  .  .  indeed,  there  was  almost  a  groan 
in  the  words  in  which,  the  night  after  he  had  given 
it  out,  he  addressed  a  party  of  serenaders."  .  .  . 
Rhodes  says  {History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  IV, 
p.  72,  et  seq.)  that  on  the  22nd  of  July,  1862,  Seward 
objected  in  Cabinet  meeting  to  giving  out  the  threat 
of  his  purpose  to  emancipate  that  Lincoln  issued  ^^as 
likely  to  seem  at  this  juncture  the  last  measure  of 


102  THE  EEAL  LINCOLN 

an  exhausted  government;  .  .  .  our  last  shriek 
in  retreat.''  And  Miss  Tarbell  records  that  Lincoln 
himself  said  a  few  months  later:  *^Hope  and  fear 
contended  over  the  new  policy  in  uncertain  conflict. ' ' 
And  she  goes  on:  **As  he  had  foreseen,  dark  days 
followed.  There  were  mutinies  in  the  army ;  .  .  . 
the  events  of  the  fall  brought  him  little  encourage- 
ment. Indeed,  the  promise  of  emancipation  seemed 
to  effect  nothing  but  disappointment  and  uneasi- 
ness; stocks  went  down;  troops  fell  off.  In  five 
great  States — Indiana,  Illinois,  Ohio,  Pennsylvania, 
and  New  York — the  elections  went  ascainst  him." 


CHAPTER  XV 

IN"   WHAT   PROPOETION    DIVIDED 

IF  ALL  this  testimony  suggests  a  desire  to  know 
in  what  proportion  the  people  of  the  North  and 
West  were  divided  between  those  who  approved 
Lincoln's  great  achievements  and  those  who  disap- 
proved them,  answers  more  or  less  specific — some 
of  them  estimating  the  numerical  ratio — are  fur- 
nished by  the  witnesses  whose  testimony  we  have 
been  considering.  Burgess  says  {The  Civil  War  and 
the  Constitution,  Vol.  I,  p.  134)  of  the  Democratic 
party  in  1860,  .  .  .  *^  There  was  another  great 
party  at  the  North,  numbering  almost  as  many  ad- 
herents as  the  Republican  party  itself,  which  was 
ready  to  yield  to  almost  any  demand,  as  the  price 
of  the  Union,  that  the  Secessionists  might  make." 
.  .  .  A  letter  of  General  Wm.  T.  Sherman  to 
General  Halleck,  of  September  17,  1863,  says 
{Memoir,  Vol.  I,  p.  339) :  ^^The  people  of  even  small 
and  unimportant  localities.  North  as  well  as  South, 
had  reasoned  themselves  into  the  belief  that  their 
opinions  were  superior  to  the  aggregated  interests 
of  the  whole  nation.  Half  our  territorial  nation  re- 
belled, on  a  doctrine  of  secession  which  they  them- 
selves now  scout;  and  a  real  numerical  majority 
actually  believed  that  a  little  State  was  endowed 
with  such  sovereignty  that  it  would  defeat  the  policy 
of  the  great  whole."    Leland,  after  stating  {Lincoln, 

103 


104  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

p.  94)  that  when  the  Confederate  Government  was 
organized  at  Montgomery  ''no  one  had  threatened 
the  new  Southern  Government,  and  at  this  stage  the 
North  would  have  suffered  it  to  withdraw  in  peace 
from  the  Union,"  .  .  .  says  (p.  96)  specifically 
that  ''the  number  of  men  in  the  North  who  were 
willing  to  grant  them  everything  very  nearly 
equalled  that  of  the  Eepublican  party."  Again 
Leland  says  (p.  95,  et  seq.),  ''But  the  strict  truth 
shows  that  the  Union  party,  what  with  the  Copper- 
heads, or  sympathizers  with  the  South,  at  home,  and 
with  the  open  foes  in  the  field,  was  never  at  any 
time  much  more  than  equal  to  either  branch  of  the 
enemy,  and  that,  far  from  being  the  strongest  in 
numbers,  it  was  as  one  to  two.  Those  in  its  ranks 
who  secretly  aided  the  enemy  were  numerous  and 
powerful.  The  Union  armies  were  sometimes  led 
by  generals  whose  hearts  were  with  the  foe."  And 
Leland  goes  on  (p.  96),  "President  Lincoln  found 
himself  in  command  of  a  beleaguered  fortress, 
.  .  .  a  powerful  enemy  storming  without,  and 
nearly  half  his  men  doing  their  utmost  to  aid  the 
enemy  from  within."  So  quite  consistently  Leland 
explains  (p.  170)  the  attitude  of  England  as  follows: 
"To  those  who  did  not  understand  American  politics 
in  detail,  the  spectacle  of  about  one-third  of  the  pop- 
ulation, even  though  backed  by  constitutional  law, 
opposing  the  majority,  seemed  to  call  for  little  sym- 
pathy." And  Dr.  Holland  says  {Abraham  Lincoln, 
p.  291),  "All  these  labors  Lincoln  performed  with 
the  knowledge  .  .  .  that  seven  States  were  in 
open  revolt   and  that  a  majority  throughout  the 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  105 

Union  had  not  the  slightest  sympathy  with  him/'" 
Henderson  says,'  ^^The  majority  of  the  Northern 
people  held  the  Federal  Government  paramount, 
but,  at  the  same  time,  they  held  that  it  had  no  power 
either  to  punish  or  coerce  the  individual  States.  This 
had  been  the  attitude  of  the  founders  of  the  Repub- 
lic, and  it  is  perfectly  clear  that  their  interpretation 
of  the  Constitution  was  this :  Although  the  several 
States  were  morally  bound  to  maintain  the  compact 
into  which  they  had  voluntarily  entered,  the  obliga- 
tion, if  any  one  State  chose  to  repudiate  it,  could 
not  be  legally  enforced.  Their  idea  was  a  Union 
based  upon  fraternal  affection. 

'*Mr.  Lincoln's  predecessor  in  the  presidential 
chair  had  publicly  proclaimed  that  coercion  was  both 
illegal  and  inexpedient,  and  for  the  three  months 
which  intervened  between  the  secession  of  South 
Carolina  and  the  inauguration  of  the  Republican 
President,  made  not  the  slightest  attempt  to  inter- 
fere with  the  peaceable  establishment  of  the  new 
Confederacy.  Not  a  single  soldier  reinforced  the 
garrisons  of  the  military  forts  in  the  South.  Not  a 
single  regiment  was  recalled  from  the  western  fron- 
tiers; and  the  seceded  States,  without  a  word  of 
protest,  were  permitted  to  take  possession,  with  few 
exceptions,  of  the  forts,  arsenals,  navy-yards,  and 
custom-houses  which  stood  on  their  own  territory. 

*  Dr.  Holland  is  one  of  Lincoln's  most  ardent  eulogists.  Perhaps  he  did 
not  know  that  Lincoln  had  said,  in  a  published  letter,  which  Rhodes  says. 
Vol.  IV.,  p.  409,  may  be  called  "a  stump  speech"  as  follows:  "I  freely 
acknowledge  myself  the  servant  of  the  people,  according  to  the  bond  of  service 
— the  United  States  Constitution — and  that,  as  such,  I  am  responsible  to 
them." 

^Life  of  General  Thomas  J.  Jackson — Stonewall  Jackson — p.  116,   et  seq. 


106  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

It  seemed  that  the  Federal  Government  was  only 
waiting  until  an  amicable  adjustment  could  be  ar- 
rived at  as  to  the  terms  of  separation.''  Morse,  in 
like  manner,  goes  back  to  tell  how  President  Bu- 
chanan and  the  leaders  and  the  press  regarded  and 
dealt  with  the  actual  secession  of  States  which  began 
and  grew  to  maturity  in  President  Buchanan's  ad- 
ministration. Referring  to  Buchanan's  last  mes- 
sage, in  which  he  pronounced  coercion  to  be  quite 
out  of  the  question,  Morse  says  (his  Lincoln,  Vol.  I, 
p.  190,  et  seq.) :  **But  while  this  message  of  Mr. 
Buchanan  has  been  bitterly  denounced,  and  with  en- 
tire justice,  .  .  .  yet  a  palliating  consideration 
ought  to  be  noted.  He  had  little  reason  to  believe 
that,  if  he  asserted  the  right  and  duty  of  forcible 
coercion,  he  would  find  at  his  back  the  indispensable 
force,  moral  and  physical  of  the  people.  Demoral- 
ization at  the  North  was  widespread.  After  the 
lapse  of  a  few  months  this  condition  passed,  and  then 
those  who  had  been  beneath  its  influence  desired  to 
forget  the  humiliating  fact,  and  hoped  that  others 
might  either  forget,  or  never  know  the  measure  of 
their  weakness.  In  order  that  they  might  save  their 
good  names,  it  was  natural  that  they  should  seek  to 
suppress  all  evidence  which  had  not  already  found 
its  way  upon  the  public  record ;  but  enough  remains 
to  show  how  grievously  for  a  while  the  knees  were 
weakened  under  many  who  enjoy — and  rightfully, 
by  reason  of  the  rest  of  their  lives — the  reputation 
of  stalwart  patriots.' 

'  Morse  might  have  quoted  Governor  Hicks,  of  Maryland,  as  a  notable  ex- 
ample. General  Butler,  at  page  208  of  Butler's  Book,  says,  in  describing  his 
moving  his  Massachusetts  troops  to  "Washington  by  way  of   Annapolis,    "Gov- 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  107 

For  example,  late  in  October  General  Scott  sug- 
gested to  the  President  a  division  of  the  country  into 
four  separate  confederacies,  roughly  outlining  their 
boundaries.  Scott  was  a  dull  man,  but  he  was  at  the 
head  of  the  army  and  enjoyed  a  certain  prestige,  so 
that  it  was  impossible  to  say  that  his  notions,  how- 
ever foolish  in  themselves,  were  of  no  consequence. 
But  if  the  blunders  of  General  Scott  could  not  fatally 
wound  the  Union  cause,  the  blunders  of  Horace 
Greeley  might  conceivably  do  so.  Republicans  every- 
where throughout  the  land  had  been  educated  by  his 
teaching  and  had  become  accustomed  to  take  a  large 
part  of  their  knowledge  and  their  opinions  in  mat- 
ters political  from  his  writings.  Then  follows  (p. 
191)  Greeley's  full  acknowledgment  of  the  right  of 
secession  which  appears  above."  And  it  was  this 
man — an  authoritative  though  unofficial  power  in 
the  land — ^who  dared  to  say  in  his  great  open  letter 
addressed  to  Lincoln  through  his  Tribune  as 
quoted  above,  *^  Nine-tenths  of  the  whole  American 
people.  North  and  South,  are  anxious  for  peace — 
peace  on  almost  any  terms;''  a  ratio  of  opposition 
greatly  above  Leland's  computation  above  quoted. 
That  Greeley  said  this  advisedly,  with  the  fullest 

ernor  Hicks  had  protested  to  me  against  the  landing  of  my  troops,  and  he 
had  also  protested  to  the  President,  to  whom  he  had  made  the  amazing  propo- 
sition that  the  national  controversy  should  be  referred  to  Lord  Lyons,  the 
British  Minister."  Nicolay's  Outbreak  of  the  Rebellion  quotes  Hicks,  at  page 
88,  as  assuring  the  Baltimoreans  gathered  on  Monument  Square,  after  their 
bloody  collision  with  the  Massachusetts  soldiers,  on  the  19th  of  April,  that 
he  would  wish  his  "right  arm  might  wither"  should  he  fail  in  such  an 
emergency.  And  Lamon's  Lincoln,  at  page  517,  quotes  the  words  from  a 
letter  of  Governor  Hicks  about  the  same  time  which  expresses  his  wish  that 
the  guns  he  is  issuing  may  be  used  "to  kill  Lincoln."  This  Morse,  too,  quotes 
in  his  Lincoln,  p.  197,  et  seq. 
*  Pages  62  and  72  of  this  book. 


108  THE  EEAL  LINCOLN 

knowledge,    and    honestly,    cannot    be    questioned. 

Nor  was  the  New  York  Herald  behind  the  New 
York  Tribune  in  like  protests.  Morse  says  {Lincoln^ 
Vol.  I,  p.  193),  ^^On  November  9,  1860,  the  Demo- 
cratic New  York  Herald,  discussing  the  election  of 
Lincoln,  said:  ^'For  far  less  than  this  our  fathers 
seceded  from  Great  Britain ;''  it  also  declared  co- 
ercion to  be  ^*out  of  the  question,''  and  laid  do^vn 
the  principle  that  each  State  possesses  the  ^^  right 
to  break  the  tie  of  the  confederacy  as  a  nation  might 
break  a  treaty,  and  to  repel  coercion  as  a  nation 
might  repel  invasion."  Greeley,  too,  quotes  {Amer- 
ican Conflict,  Vol.  I,  p.  358,  et  seq.)  the  New  York 
fi'era?^  of  9th  of  November,  1860 :  .  .  .  ^^  And  if 
the  Cotton  States  shall  decide  that  they  can  do 
better  out  of  the  Union  than  in  it,  we  insist  on  letting 
them  go  in  peace.  The  right  to  secede  may  be  a 
revGlutionary  one,  but  it  exists  nevertheless ;  and  we 
do  not  see  how  one  party  can  have  a  right  to  do  what 
another  party  has  a  right  to  prevent.  We  must  ever 
resist  the  asserted  right  of  any  State  to  remain  in 
the  Union  and  nullify  or  annul  the  laws  thereof.  To 
withdraw  from  the  Union  is  quite  another  matter. 
And  whenever  a  considerable  section  of  our  Union 
shall  deliberately  resolve  to  go  out  we  shall  resist 
all  coercive  measures  to  keep  it  in.  We  hope  never 
to  live  in  a  Republic  whereof  one  section  is  pinned 
to  the  residue  by  bayonets." 

See  also  Butler's  Book,  p.  141,  et  seq,,  for  edi- 
torials of  Greeley's  Tribune,  avowing  that  States 
might  properly  secede. 

Hugh  McCulloch  says  {Men  and  Measures  of  Half 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  109 

a  Century y  p.  15),  ^*  Still,  as  I  have  said,  it  is  by 
no  means  certain  that  secession  would  have  been 
crushed  in  its  incipient  stages  if  a  more  resolute 
man  than  Mr.  Buchanan  had  been  in  his  place.'' 
Again  he  says  (p.  154)  that  the  leaders  in  secession, 
^Mid  not,  however,  anticipate  a  general  uprising  of 
the  people  of  the  Middle  and  Western  States  in 
defense  of  the  Union.  They  confidently  expected 
that  Missouri,  Kentucky,  and  Maryland  would  unite 
with  other  States  in  which  slavery  existed,  and  that 
Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Ohio  would  give  reluctant  and 
partial  aid  to  the  Federal  Government,  if  coercive 
measures  should  be  resorted  to  for  its  support.  For 
these  expectations  there  were  apparently  good 
reasons.^  The  most  prominent  men  in  Missouri, 
Kentucky,  and  Maryland,  if  not  Disunionists,  were 
more  attached  to  slavery  than  the  Union,  while  their 
people  generally  were  bound  to  the  people  of  the 
Southern  States  by  family  or  commercial  ties. 
What  might  be  called  the  civilization  of  those  Cen- 
tral States  was  widely  different  from  that  of  the 
Northern  States,  and  they  would  undoubtedly  have 
joined  the  South  if  they  had  not  been  prevented  by 
the  prompt  and  energetic  measures  of  the  Govern- 
ment. The  disposition  of  the  people  of  Maryland 
was  indicated  by  the  treatment  which  a  Massa- 
chusetts regiment  received  as  it  passed  through 
Baltimore.    At  the  commencement  of  the  war  Mis- 


°  Besides  the  "good  reasons"  given  by  McCulloch,  other  very  strong  rea- 
sons are  given  in  this  book  for  the  failure  in  every  one  of  the  States  he  names 
to  meet  the  expectations  of  the  Southern  leaders.  For  these  "strong  reasons" 
see  chapters  19   to  25,   inclusive,  of  this  book. 


110  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

souri  was  in  open  revolt,  and  desperate  battles  were 
fought  upon  her  soil  before  she  could  be  prevented 
from  casting  in  her  lot  with  the  South.  The  same 
influences  which  were  at  work  in  Missouri  and  Mary- 
land were  potent  also  in  Kentucky/'  He  then  gives 
his  personal  observations  in  Kentucky,  showing  that 
it  was  with  the  South.  He  says  (p.  155)  of  Missouri 
and  Kentucky,  *^Both  would  have  united  with  the 
South  if  they  could  have  had  their  own  way.  Nor 
was  the  expectation  unreasonable  that  the  Western 
free  States  and  some  of  the  leading  Republicans  also 
were  opposed  to  coercion."  McCulloch  goes  on  (p. 
158):  ^*In  traveling  through  Southern  Indiana  in 
the  autumn  of  1860  and  the  following  winter,  I  was 
amazed  and  disheartened  by  the  general  prevalence 
of  the  non-coercive  sentiment.  ...  As  far  as  I 
could  learn,  the  same  opposition  to  coercion  pre- 
vailed to  a  considerable  extent  in  the  other  free 
States  bordering  upon  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi 
rivers,  and  I  could  not  help  feeling  that  the  Union 
.  .  .  had  no  deep  hold  on  the  affection  of  the  peo- 
ple. My  duties  as  President  of  the  Bank  of  the 
State  required  my  presence  at  Indianapolis  when  the 
Legislature  of  1860-61  was  in  session,  and  I  was 
astonished  at  some  of  the  speeches  of  some  of  its 
most  prominent  members  against  what  they  called 
coercion — the  coercion  of  sovereign  States.  In  their 
opinion,  the  Union  was  not  worth  preserving,  if  it 
could  only  be  preserved  by  force.  Indiana,  they  said, 
would  furnish  no  soldiers,  nor  would  she  permit  sol- 
diers from  other  States  to  pass  through  her  terri- 
tory, to  subjugate  the  South.     .     .     .     The  sentiment 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  111 

of  southern  Illinois  was  in  sympathy  with  that  of 
the  people  of  southern  Indiana." 

If  any  higher  and  more  conclusive  authority  than 
those  above  quoted  about  the  question  in  hand  can 
be  imagined,  it  is  Secretary  Stanton,  speaking  as 
Secretary  of  War  for  Lincoln.  In  defense  of  the 
President's  usurpation  of  despotic  powers,  he  issued 
February  14,  1861,  a  paper  which  contains  the  fol- 
lowing :  ^  ^  Every  department  of  the  Government  was 
paralyzed  by  treason.  Defections  appeared  in  the 
Senate,  in  the  House  of  Eepresentatives,  in  the  Cab- 
inet, in  the  Federal  Courts.  Ministers  and  Consuls 
returned  from  foreign  countries  to  enter  the  insur- 
rectionary councils.  Commanding  or  other  officers 
of  the  army  and  in  the  navy  betrayed  our  councils  or 
deserted  their  posts  for  commands  in  the  insurgent 
forces.  Treason  was  flagrant  in  the  revenue  and  in 
the  post-office  service,  as  well  as  in  the  Territorial 
governments  and  in  the  judicial  reserves. 

^^Not  only  governors,  judges,  legislators,  and 
ministerial  officers  in  the  States,  but  whole  States, 
rushed  out  one  after  another  with  apparent  una- 
nimity into  rebellion.  .  .  .  Even  in  the  portions 
of  the  country  which  were  most  loyal  political  com- 
binations and  secret  societies  were  formed  further- 
ing the  work  of  disunion.  .  .  .  Armies,  ships, 
fortifications,  navy-yards,  arsenals,  military  posts 
and  garrisons,  one  after  another,  were  betrayed  or 
abandoned  to  the  insurgents.'' 


CHAPTER  XVI 


ATTITUDE  OF  ENGLAND 


THE  fact  that  the  great  number  of  people  in  the 
North  and  West  who  opposed  coercion  had  the 
sympathy  of  England  will  not  be  without  interest. 
Rhodes  says  {History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  Ill, 
p.  503) :  *' John  Stuart  Mill  speaks  of  the  'rush  of 
nearly  the  whole  of  the  upper  and  middle  classes  of 
my  own  country,  even  those  who  pass  for  liberals, 
into  a  furious  pro-Southern  partisanship,  the  work- 
ing classes  and  some  of  the  literary  and  scientific 
men  being  almost  the  sole  exceptions  to  the  general 
frenzy.'  Autobiography,  ip,  268.^^  Mill's  tone  shows 
that  he  is  an  unwilling  witness  to  the  state  of  feel- 
ing in  England.  And  on  the  next  page  to  the  above, 
Rhodes  quotes  the  London  Times  of  the  7th  of 
November,  1861,  as  follows:  ''The  contest  is  really 
for  empire  on  the  side  of  the  North  and  for  inde- 
pendence on  that  of  the  South,  and  in  that  respect 
we  recognize  an  exact  analogy  between  the  North 
and  the  government  of  George  III,  and  the  South 
and  the  thirteen  revolted  provinces.  These  opinions 
may  be  wrong,  but  they  are  the  general  opinion  of 
the  English  nation."  On  page  509  Rhodes  again 
quotes  the  London  Times  of  October  9,  1861:  "The 
people  of  the  South  may  be  wrong,  but  they  are  ten 
million."  Elsewhere  (Vol.  IV,  p.  358)  Rhodes  says 
"Four-fifths  of  the  House  of  Lords  were  'no  well- 

112 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  113 

wishers  of  anything  American,'  and  most  of  the 
House  of  Commons  desired  the  success  of  the 
South."  And  Rhodes  shows  (Vol.  TV,  p.  337)  such 
an  attitude  of  the  premier  and  of  Earl  Russell  that 
Mr.  Adams,  United  States  Minister  to  England, 
wrote,  September  2,  1862,  *^  Unless  the  course  of  the 
war  should  soon  change,  it  seems  to  me  my  mission 
must  come  to  an  end  by  February."  Again  he  re- 
ports (p.  339)  that  *^ Gladstone,  October  7,  1862,  at 
a  banquet  at  New  Castle  said,  ^We  may  anticipate 
with  certainty  the  success  of  the  Southern  States  so 
far  as  their  separation  from  the  North  is  con- 
cerned.' "  Rhodes  quotes  (p.  392,  et  seq.)  Gladstone 
writing  to  Senator  Sumner,  November,  1863,  ^^In 
England  I  think  nearly  all  consider  war  against 
slavery  unjustifiable,"  and  complains  (p.  80)  that 
Gladstone  said  to  the  men  of  Manchester,  April  14th, 
^^We  have  no  faith  in  the  propagation  of  free  institu- 
tions at  the  point  of  the  sword."  Rhodes  quotes, 
too  (note  on  p.  85),  from  a  letter  from  the  Duke  of 
Argyle  to  Sumner,  ^^I  cannot  believe  in  there  being 
any  Union  party  in  the  South,  and,  if  not,  can  the 
continuance  of  the  war  be  justified!" 

Not  the  war  only  upon  the  South,  but  its  being 
forced  on  the  people  of  the  North  and  West  met 
heavy  censure  from  England.  Rhodes  says  {History 
of  the  United  States ,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  514)  of  the  London 
Times  and  the  Saturday  Review,  Their  *^  criticisms 
of  the  arbitrary  measures  of  our  Government  .  .  . 
were  galling,"  and  quotes  from  the  Saturday  Re- 
view of  the  19th  of  October,  1861,  ^^The  arrest  of 
the  newly-elected  members  of  the  legislative  assem- 


114  THE  EEAL  LINCOLN 

bly  of  Maryland  before  they  had  had  any  time  to 
meet,  without  any  form  of  law  or  prospect  of  trial, 
merely  because  President  Lincoln  conceived  that 
they  might  in  their  legislative  capacity  do  acts  at 
variance  with  his  interpretation  of  the  American 
Constitution,  was  as  perfect  an  act  of  despotism  as 
can  be  conceived.  ...  It  was  a  coup  d'etat  in 
every  essential  feature,''  and  the  paper  goes  on, 
November  23,  1861,  *^The  land  of  the  free  is  a  land 
in  which  electors  may  not  vote,  for  fear  of  arrest, 
and  judges  may  not  execute  the  law,  for  fear  of 
dismissal — in  which  unsubmissive  advocates  are 
threatened  with  imprisonment  and  hostile  news- 
papers are  suppressed."  No  wonder,  then,  that,  as 
Rhodes  tells  us  (Vol.  II,  p.  27),  ^' James  Russell 
Lowell  took  grievously  to  heart  the  comments  of  the 
English  press  and  the  actions  of  the  English  Gov- 
ernment. ' ' 

If  to  any  one  it  seems  that  England's  course  needs 
apology  or  defense,  we  have  it,  published  lately,  and 
by  a  very  able  writer,  and  one  with  no  sort  of  lean- 
ing towards  the  South  or  tolerance  of  slavery.  The 
Literary  Digest  for  March  29,  1902,  at  page  417, 
quotes  from  the  Atlantic  Monthly,  Goldwin  Smith, 
as  follows:  *'The  sympathy  of  the  people  of  Eng- 
land in  general  could  be  challenged  by  the  North 
only  on  the  ground  that  the  North  was  fighting 
against  slavery.  But  when  we,  friends  of  the  North, 
urged  this  plea,  we  had  the  misfortune  to  be  met  by 
a  direct  disclaimer  of  our  advocacy  on  the  part  of 
our  clients.  President  Lincoln  repudiated  the  in- 
tention of  attacking  slavery.    Seward  repudiated  it 


THE  KEAL  LINCOLN  115 

in  still  more  emphatic  terms.  Congress  liad  tried  to 
bring  back  the  Slave  States  to  the  fold  by  promises 
of  increased  securities  for  slavery,  including  a 
sharpening  of  the  Fugitive-Slave  Law.  What  had 
we  to  say?  .  .  .  Had  the  issue  been,  as  Lincoln, 
Seward,  and  Congress  represented,  merely  political 
and  territorial,  we  might  have  had  to  decide  against 
the  North.  Few  who  have  looked  into  the  history 
can  doubt  that  the  Union  originally  was,  and  was 
generally  taken  by  the  parties  to  be,  a  compact  dis- 
soluble, perhaps  most  of  them  would  have  said  at 
pleasure,  dissoluble  certainly  on  breach  of  the  ar- 
ticles of  the  Union.  Among  these  articles,  unques- 
tionably, were  the  recognition  and  protection  of 
slavery,  which  the  Constitution  guaranteed  by  means 
of  a  fugitive-slave  law.  It  was  not  less  certain  that 
the  existence  of  slavery  was  threatened  by  the  aboli- 
tion movement  at  the  North,  and  practically  at- 
tacked by  the  election  of  Lincoln,  who  had  declared 
that  the  continent  must  be  all  slave  or  all  free ;  mean- 
ing, of  course,  that  it  must  be  all  free.''  He  quotes 
Lincoln's  formal  declaration  of  the  right  of  seces- 
sion in  his  speech  beginning  **any  people  any- 
where," etc.,  recorded  at  page  66  of  this  book,  and 
goes  on  as  follows:  **A  stronger  ground  for  separa- 
tion there  could  not  possibly  be  than  the  radical  an- 
tagonism between  the  social  organizations  of  the  two 
groups  of  States,  which  made  it  impossible  that  they 
should  live  in  harmony  under  the  same  political  roof, 
and  had  rendered  their  enforced  union  a  source  of 
ever  increasing  bitterness  and  strife.     .     .     . 

*^If  England  was  divided  in  opinion,  so  was  the 


116  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

North  itself.  There  was  all  the  time  in  the  North  a 
strong  Democratic  party  opposed  to  the  war.  The 
autumn  elections  of  1862  went  greatly  against  the 
Government.  It  was  in  expectation  of  calling  forth 
Northern  support  that  Lee  invaded  Pennsylvania, 
and  had  he  conquered  at  Gettysburg,  his  expectation 
would  probably  have  been  fulfilled.  It  actually  was 
fulfilled,  after  a  fashion,  by  the  draft  riot  in  New 
York."  The  Independent,  too,  (for  April  10,  1902, 
p.  850),  quotes  Goldwin  Smith:  ^^In  justice  to  the 
British  people  it  must  always  be  borne  in  mind  that 
the  American  Government  had  distinctly  proclaimed 
that  the  abolition  of  slavery  was  not  the  object  of 
the  war.'' 

The  sympathy  of  the  Continental  powers  of 
Europe  concerns  us  less  than  that  of  England,  ex- 
hibited above,  but  it  is  interesting  to  notice  how  the 
sympathy  of  one  of  them  lay,  as  exhibited  in  the 
following  extract : 

Munsey^s  Magazine  (for  May,  1902)  quotes  from 
George  Bancroft's  Eulogy  of  Lincoln,  delivered 
12th  February,  1866,  in  the  Hall  of  Eepresentatives, 
a  reference  to  the  Pope,  who  '  *  alone  among  the  tem- 
poral sovereigns  recognized  the  Chief  of  the  Con- 
federate states  as  a  President,  and  his  supporters 
as  a  people,  and  gave  counsels  for  peace  at  a  time 
when  peace  meant  the  victory  of  secession." 


CHAPTER  XVII 

DESPOTISM  CONCEDED 

IF  ANY  are  scandalized  or  startled  at  seeing  Lin- 
coln called  usurper  or  despot,  they  are  invited  to 
observe  that  he  was  denounced  as  both  by  many 
great  Republican  leaders  of  his  own  day.  The  words 
in  which  Fremont,  Wendell  Phillips,  Fred  Douglass, 
and  Horace  Greeley,  all  stanchest  of  Republicans 
and  Abolitionists,  issued  their  call  for  the  conven- 
tion of  Republicans  that  met  at  Cleveland,  Ohio, 
May  31,  1864,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  defeating  Mr. 
Lincoln's  second  election,  were  as  follows:  **The 
public  liberty  was  in  danger :''  that  its  object  was  to 
arouse  the  people  ^^and  bring  them  to  realize  that 
while  we  are  saturating  Southern  soil  with  the  best 
blood  of  the  country  in  the  name  of  liberty,  we  have 
really  parted  with  it  at  home. ' ' ' 

Capt.  C.  C.  Chesney,  of  the  Royal  Engineers,  says,'' 
the  garrison  of  Washington  was  being  drained,  not 

*  It  is  interesting  to  compare  these  words  with  those  in  which  John  Paul 
Jones  gave  a  warning  to  the  great  Constitutional  Convention  in  Philadelphia, 
when  Jefferson  asked  and  obtained  from  him  an  elaborate  memorandum  of 
his  views  of  the  merits  of  the  constitution  when  it  was  finished.  His  words 
in  the  memorandum  are  as  follows:  .  .  .  "Though  General  "Washington 
might  be  safely  trusted  with  such  tempting  power  as  the  chief  command  of 
the  fleet  and  the  army,  yet,  depend  on  it,  in  some  other  hands  it  could  not 
fail  to  overset  the  liberties  of  America.  .  .  .  Deprive  the  President  of 
the  power  or  the  right  to  draw  his  sword  and  lead  the  fleet  and  the  army, 
under  some  plausible  pretext  or  under  any  circumstances  whatever,  to  cut 
the  throats  of  part  of  his  fellow  citizens  in  order  to  make  himself  tyrant  over 
the  rest." 

2  Vol.  II.,  p.  131.     Just  after  Gettysburg. 

117 


118  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

so  much  for  Mead's  re-enforcement  as  to  check  the 
insurrection  in  New  York.  And  when  Lee  had  retired 
to  the  Rapidan,  Chesney  says  of  Meade  in  his 
front,  **  Large  detachments  were  at  this  time  made 
from  his  strength  to  increase  the  garrison  which 
was  to  aid  General  Dix  in  enforcing  the  obnoxious 
conscription  in  New  York/'  Again  he  speaks  (p. 
149)  of  Lincoln  and  his  Cabinet  as  reducing  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  largely  in  order  to  carry  out 
the  conscription,  which  they  had  been  obliged  to 
postpone  in  New  York.  Thirty  thousand  troops 
under  General  Dix  occupied  that  rebellious  city  in 
August,  1863,  and  the  obnoxious  ballot  was  enforced 
without  further  resistance,  in  spite  of  *Hhe  strenu- 
ous opposition  of  Governor  Seymour." 

Rhodes  tells  {History  of  the  United  States,  Vol. 
IV,  p.  164,  et  seq.)  of  .  .  .  ''open  dissatisfac- 
tion which  in  Pennsylvania  and  Wisconsin  broke 
out  into  positive  violence  over  the  draft  necessary 
under  the  call  for  300,000  militia.'' 

Among  many  records  of  the  suppression  of  news- 
papers we  have  the  following,  in  a  letter  of  Gen. 
John  A.  Dix'  to  Secretary  Stanton,  February  18, 
1862,  ''Samuel  Sands  Mills,  publisher  and  pro- 
prietor, and  Thomas  H.  Piggott,  editor,  of  The 
South,  were  arrested  last  evening,  kept  in  the  sta- 
tion-house during  the  night,  and  sent  to  Fort  Mc- 
Henry  this  morning.  The  office  of  The  South  was 
seized  last  evening,  and  is  in  possession  of  the  police. 
John  M.  Mills,  a  partner  in  the  concern,  has  also 

3  War   of   the   Rebellion;    Official    Records    of    the    Union    and   Confederate 
Armies,  Series  II.,  Vol.  II.,  p.  788. 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  119 

been  arrested,  and  will  be  sent  to  Fort  McHenry 
immediately. ' ' 

The  same  (page  791)  has  in  a  note,  ^'For  the  full 
proceedings  of  the  House  on  July  18,  1861,  concern- 
ing the  charges  against  May,  the  attack  by  a  Balti- 
more man  on  the  Federal  troops,  and  Chief  of  Police 
Kane's  connection  therewith,  see  Congressional 
Globe  for  July  20,  1861,  p.  196,  et  seq." 

The  same  volume  (page  795)  gives  Pinkerton's 
report  of  the  arrest,  about  midnight,  12th  Septem- 
ber, 1861,  of  Messrs.  Scott,  Wallis,  F.  Key  Howard, 
Hall,  May  and  Warfield. 

The  same  volume  (pp.  938  to  956)  tells  of  the 
arrest  of  Messrs.  Flanders  Brothers,  editors  of  the 
Gazette,  Franklin  county,  N.  Y.,  for  complete  op- 
position to  the  war — and  of  exclusion  of  the  Gazette 
from  the  mails. 

Phodes  describes  {History/  of  the  United  States, 
Vol.  IV,  p.  175,  et  seq.)  the  suppression  of  a  '* dis- 
loyal" paper  in  Cincinnati,  and  (p.  253)  the  exclu- 
sion from  the  mails  of  the  New  York  World  and  the 
suppression  of  the  Chicago  Times  by  General  Burn- 
side,  and  says  of  Burnside's  orders,  *^  Strange  pro- 
nunciamentos  were  these  to  apply  to  the  States  of 
Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois,  where  there  was  no  war ; 
where  the  courts  were  open  and  the  people  were 
living  under  the  American  Constitution  and  Eng- 
lish law. ' '  Could  there  be  more  conclusive  evidence 
of  the  attitude  of  Chicago  and  the  great  States  he 
names,  for  which  Chicago  is  a  great  commercial 
centre,  than  Phodes'  record,  as  follows:  '^The 
Times  had  gone  beyond  any  print,  North  or  South, 


120  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

in  its  opposition  to  the  war  and  its  devotion  to  the 
interests  of  the  rebellion/'  Rhodes  goes  on  to  say 
(p.  254)  that  *^the  President  yielded,  .  .  .  bnt 
he  deserves  no  credit,  .  .  .  for  he  simply  re- 
sponded to  the  outburst  of  sentiment"  in  Chicago, 
manifested  by  action  of  the  city  government  and 
the  State  government,  ^*  which  sentiment, '^  he  adds, 
*^was  beginning  to  spread  over  the  whole  North." 
Ehodes '  note  on  page  253,  quoted  from  the  Chicago 
Tribune  of  June  5,  1863,  gives  more  light  on  the 
matter  and  fixes  the  date  of  the  events. 

We  have  Lincoln's  own  order  to  General  Dix  of 
May  18,  1864,*  to  ^^  arrest  and  imprison  in  any  fort 
or  military  prison  in  your  command  the  editors, 
proprietors  and  publishers  of  the  New  York  World 
and  the  New  York  Journal  of  Commerce.'^ ^  The 
two  journals  were  the  very  embodiment  of  all  that 
was  most  respected,  so  that  General  Dix  hesitated 
(p.  388),  and  was  compelled  to  obey  by  peremptory 
letters  from  Secretary  Stanton.  Ehodes  mentions 
{History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  555)  ^*the 
arrest  of  a  crippled  newsboy  for  selling  the  New 
York  Daily  News  in  Connecticut." 

It  would  be  difficult  to  characterize  the  above  de- 
scribed usurpations  in  language  stronger  than  was 
applied  at  the  time.  Rhodes  quotes  (p.  555)  from 
a  lecture  of  Wendell  Phillips  delivered  in  New  York 
and  Boston,  December,  1861,  as  follows:  ^^Lieber 
says  that  habeas  corpus,  free  meetings  like  this,  and 
a  free  press,  are  the  three  elements  which  distin- 

*  Record  of  the  Rehellion;  Official  Records  of  the  Union  and  Confederate 
Armies,  Serial  Number   125,  p.   388. 


I 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  121 

guish  liberty  from  despotism.  All  that  Saxon  blood 
has  gained  in  the  battles  and  toils  of  two  hundred 
years  are  these  three  things.  But  today,  Mr.  Chair- 
man, every  one  of  them — habeas  corpus,  the  right  of 
free  meeting,  and  a  free  press — is  annihilated  in 
every  square  mile  of  the  Republic.  We  live  today, 
every  one  of  us,  under  martial  law.  The  Secretary 
of  State  puts  into  his  bastile,  with  a  warrant  as  ir- 
responsible as  that  of  Louis  XIV,  any  man  whom  he 
pleases.  And  you  know  that  neither  press  nor  lips 
may  venture  to  arraign  the  Government  without 
being  silenced.  At  this  very  moment  one  thousand 
men  at  least  are  ^bastiled'  by  an  authority  as  des- 
potic as  that  of  Louis.  .  .  .  For  the  first  time 
in  our  history  government  spies  frequent  our  great 
cities.''  And  Rhodes  quotes  (p.  534)  protests  of 
Robert  C.  Winthrop,  in  a  speech  of  November  2, 
1864 — almost  three  years  later — of  ** newspapers 
silenced  and  suppressed  at  the  tinkling  of  an  execu- 
tive bell  a  thousand  miles  away  from  the  scene  of 
hostilities."  And  Rhodes  goes  on  (p.  556),  ^^Yet 
the  matter  did  not  go  unquestioned.  Senator  Trum- 
bull introduced  a  resolution  asking  information  from 
the  Secretary  of  State  in  regard  to  these  arrests, 
and,  in  his  remarks  supporting  it,  pointed  out  the 
injustice  and  needlessness  of  such  procedure. 
''What  are  we  coming  to,"  he  asked,  '4f  arrests  may 
be  made  at  the  whim  or  the  caprice  of  a  Cabinet 
Minister?"  and,  when  Senator  Hale  asked,  ''Have 
not  arrests  been  made  in  violation  of  the  great 
principles  of  our  Constitution!"  no  one  could  gain- 
say it;  and  Rhodes  says   (p.  557),  "In  truth,  the 


122  .     THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

apprehension  of  men  in  Maine,  Vermont,  Connecti- 
cut, and  northern  New  York  on  suspicion  that  they 
were  traitors,  instead  of  leaving  them  to  be  dealt 
with  by  the  public  sentiment  of  their  thoroughly 
loyal  communities,  savored  rather  of  an  absolute 
monarch  than  of  a  desire  to  govern  in  a  constitu- 
tional way.* 

Ehodes  quotes  from  a  letter  from  Schleinden  to 
Sumner  (p.  442),  **One  of  the  most  interesting  fea- 
tures of  the  present  state  of  things  is  the  unlimited 
power  exercised  by  the  Government.  Mr.  Lincoln 
is  in  that  respect  the  equal,  if  not  the  superior,  of 
Louis  Napoleon,  and  Rhodes  refers,  too,  (p.  514)  to 
*'the  comparison  constantly  made  in  England  be- 
tween the  coup  d^etat  of  Louis  Napoleon  and  the 
coup  d^etat  of  Abraham  Lincoln,''  and,  excusing  the 
use  of  such  power,  adds,  *^The  county  attorney  of 
Illinois  had  assumed  the  power  of  a  dictator;"  and 
this  as  early  as  July,  1861. 

Rhodes'  Bistort/  of  the  United  States  is  one  of 
the  latest  records  in  this  matter.  While  he  eulogizes 
Lincoln  as  ardently  as  any  other,  as  is  shown  in  the 
Appendix,  he  speaks  (Vol.  IV,  p.  234,  et  seq.)  of 
**the  enormity  of  the  acts  done  under  his  authority," 
and  says  **he  stands  responsible  for  the  casting  into 
prison  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  be  counted 
by  thousands  (p.  230)  on  orders  as  arbitrary  as  the 
Lettres  de  Cachet  of  Louis  XIV,"  when  the  mode 

^  Lincoln  has  been  accused  by  no  one  else  of  "capriciousness."  Does  not 
this  book  show  that  the  States  Rhodes  names,  and  all  the  rest  where  these 
despotic  methods  were  used,  were  not  "thoroughly  loyal,"  and  that  at  least 
four  of  them  would  have  joined  the  Confederacy  if  Lincoln  had  not  restrained 
them  by  these  methods  and  other  similar  defiance  of  all  constitutional  re- 
straint ? 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  123 

of  procedure  might  have  been,  *  *  as  in  Great  Britain 
in  her  crises  between  1793  and  1802,  on  legal  war- 
rants," and  he  pronounces  Lincoln's  conduct  ^in- 
expedient, unnecessary,  and  wrong.  "'^  And  Ehodes 
says  more  specifically  on  the  same  page,  ^^  After 
careful  consideration,  ...  I  do  not  hesitate  to 
condemn  the  arbitrary  arrests  and  the  arbitrary 
interference  with  the  freedom  of  the  press  in  States 
which  were  not  in  the  theatre  of  the  war  and  where 
the  courts  were  open;  .  .  .  that  the  offenders 
should  have  been  prosecuted  according  to  law,  or, 
if  their  offenses  were  not  indictable,  permitted  to 
go  free."  Besides  all  this,  Ehodes  gives  (VoL  IV, 
p.  169  to  p.  172)  unqualified  commendation  to  Gov- 
ernor Seymour  for  a  patriotic  spirit  and  proper 
jealousy  for  his  country 's  liberty  shown  in  his  bitter 
opposition  to  Lincoln's  usurpations,  and  shows  how 
very  far  Seymour's  resentment  towards  Lincoln 
went.  Ehodes  even  calls  Lincoln  a  ^Hyrant."  Of  a 
proclamation  issued  two  days  after  the  edict  of 
Emancipation  (Sept.  24,  1862)  he  says  (p.  169,  et 
seq,),  after  giving  particulars  of  it,  that  it  '* applied 
to  the  whole  country,  .  .  .  and  was  the  assump- 
tion of  the  authority  exercised  by  an  absolute  mon- 
arch." And  he  quotes  Joel  Parker,  Professor  of 
Law  in  Harvard,  as  follows:  **Do  you  not  perceive 
that  the  President  is  not  only  an  absolute  monarch, 
but  that  his  is  an  absolutely  uncontrollable  govern- 
ment, a  perfect  military  despotism?"    And  Ehodes 


'"Wrong"  it  was,  doubtless;  but  was  it  inexpedient  or  unnecessary?  "With- 
out it  would  the  people  of  the  States  called  "loyal"  have  continued  the  war 
or  re-elected  Lincoln  ? 


124  THE  KEAL  LINCOLN 

says  (p.  170)  of  Curtis,  a  Justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  that  ^*he  now  published  a  pamphlet,  entitled 
Executive  Power,  which  called  Lincoln,  ^^a  usurper '^ 
and  his  power  '*a  military  despotism."  And  Rhodes 
adds,  .  .  .  ^^  Indeed  it  is  not  surprising  that  it 
gave  currency  to  an  opinion  that  he  intended  to 
suppress  free  discussion  of  political  events." 

Appleton's  Annual  Cyclopaedia  for  1864  (page 
307)  calls  the  Wade-Davis  Manifesto,  which  will  be 
described  below,  *^a  bitter  attack  on  the  President, 
remarkable  as  coming  from  the  leaders  of  his  own 
party,"  and  this  Ehodes  quotes  (p.  487)  without 
dissent  and  even  gives  the  following  commendation 
of  Wade  and  Davis  (p.  229) :  ** Their  criticism  of  the 
Executive  for  suspending  the  privilege  of  the  writ 
of  habeas  corpus  for  arbitrary  arrests,  for  the 
abridgment  of  the  freedom  of  speech  and  of  writing, 
was  justly  taken  and  undoubtedly  had  influence  for 
good  on  the  legislation  of  the  session."  This  com- 
mendation, like  what  he  gives  Seymour  and  others 
for  bitter  opposition  to  Lincoln  and  denunciation  of 
him,  sounds  strange,  coming  from  Rhodes. 

Rhodes  twice  concedes  (Vol.  FV,  p.  169,  et  seq., 
and  p.  556,  et  seq.)  Lincoln's  full  responsibility  for 
the  despotic  acts  of  his  ministers,  Stanton  and 
Seward,  but  appends  to  the  latter  the  following — a 
feeble  defense  indeed:  **It  is  not  probable  that  Lin- 
coln of  his  own  motion  would  have  ordered  them, 
for  although  at  times  he  acted  without  warrant  of 
the  Constitution,  he  had  a  profound  preference  for 
it.  .  .  .  It  was  undoubtedly  disagreeable  to  him 
to  be  called  by  Vallandigham  Hhe  Caesar  of  the 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  125 

American  Eepnblic,'  and  by  Wendell  Phillips  'a 
more  unlimited  despot  than  the  world  knows  this 
side  of  China,'  and  to  be  aware  that  Senator  Grimes 
described  a  call  at  the  White  House,  for  the  purpose 
of  seeing  the  President,  as  'an  attempt  to  approach 
the  footstool  of  the  power  enthroned  at  the  other 
end  of  the  Avenue/  " 

The  above  follows  his  account  of  very  notable  ar- 
rests (p.  555  to  p.  557)  arbitrarily  made  in  Northern 
States. 

William  A.  Dunning,  President  of  Columbia  Uni- 
versity, says  in  his  Essays  on  the  Civil  War,  dated 
1898  (p.  39,  et  seq.),  that  President  Lincoln's  Proc- 
lamation of  September  24,  1862,  was  **a  perfect  plot 
for  a  military  despotism,"  and  that  ''the  very 
demonstrative  resistance  of  the  people  to  the  Gov- 
ernment only  made  the  military  arrests  more  fre- 
quent;" .  .  .  that  (p.  24,  et  seq.)  "Mr.  Lincoln 
asserted  the  existence  of  martial  law  .  .  . 
throughout  the  United  States."  He  says  "thou- 
sands were  so  dealt  with,"  .  .  .  and  that  (p. 
46)  "the  records  of  the  War  Department  contain 
the  reports  of  hundreds  of  trials  by  military  com- 
missions with  punishments  varying  from  light  fines 
to  banishment  and  death."  Lalor's  Encyclopedia 
says  the  records  of  the  Provost  Marshal's  office  in 
Washington  show  thirty-eight  thousand  political 
prisoners,  but  Rhodes  (Vol.  IV,  p.  230,  et  seq.)  says 
the  number  is  exaggerated.  Holland's  Lincoln 
shows  (p.  476,  et  seq.)  that  when  Lincoln  killed,  by 
"pocketing"  it,  a  bill  for  the  reconstruction  of  the 
Union  which  Congress  had  just  passed,  Ben  Wade 


126  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

and  Winter  Davis,  aided  by  Greeley,  published  in 
Greeley's  Tribune,  of  August  5th  ''a  bitter  mani- 
festo." It  is  charged  that  the  President,  by  pre- 
venting this  bill  from  becoming  a  law  '^  holds  the 
electoral  vote  of  the  rebel  States  at  the  discretion 
of  his  personal  ambition,^ ^  and  that  **a  more  studied 
outrage  on  the  authority  of  the  people  has  never 
been  perpetrated."  A.  K.  McClure's  Lincoln  and 
Men  of  the  War  Time  gives  the  same  account.  See, 
too,  Schouler's  History  of  the  United  States,  p.  469. 
Channing  says  (Short  History  of  the  United  States, 
p.  331,  et  seq.) :  *'Many  persons  in  the  North  thought 
that  the  Southerners  had  a  perfect  right  to  secede 
if  they  wished.  Some  of  these  persons  sympathized 
so  thoroughly  with  the  Southerners  that  they  gave 
them  important  information  and  did  all  they  could 
to  hinder  Lincoln  in  conquering  the  South.  It  was 
hard  to  prove  anything  against  these  Southern 
sympathizers,  but  it  was  dangerous  to  leave  them 
at  liberty.  So  Lincoln  ordered  many  of  them  to  be 
arrested  and  locked  up.  Lincoln  now  suspended  the 
operation  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus.  This  action 
angered  many  persons  who  were  quite  willing  that 
the  Southerners  should  be  compelled  to  obey  the 
law,  but  did  not  like  to  have  their  neighbors  arrested 
and  locked  up  without  trial."  And  Channing  goes 
on  (p.  332),  **The  draft  was  bitterly  resisted  in 
some  parts  of  the  North,  especially  in  New  York 
city." 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

OUTLINE  OF   THE   DESPOTISM 

THE  opposition  to  coercion  and  to  emancipation 
that  has  been  shown  so  strong  in  the  people  of 
the  States  called  ^4oyal,"  in  their  Congress,  in  their 
regular  army,  and  in  their  volunteer  army,  was  all 
included  under  one  charge  of  ^* disloyalty"  and  sup- 
pressed by  the  usurpation  of  despotic  power. 

How  fully  Lincoln  used  every  method  of  a  military 
despot  in  suppressing  it  is  shown  by  examination 
of  a  single  chapter  of  Bancroft's  Life  of  William 
H.  Seward.  The  following  extracts  from  it  need 
little  comment.  Lest  any  reader  should  suppose 
that  Bancroft  means  to  expose  or  arraign  Lincoln 
or  his  agent,  Seward,  for  the  arbitrary  arrests  and 
imprisonments  that  he  describes,  be  it  understood 
that  he  does  no  more  than  mildly  concede  that  Se- 
ward's zeal  in  a  good  cause  betrayed  him  into  undue 
severities  in  the  *^ loyal"  States.  He  says  expressly 
(Vol.  II,  p.  276,  et  seq.):  **For  the  general  policy 
as  practiced  in  the  Border  States  there  is  no  .  .  . 
occasion  to  apologize.  .  .  .  But  there  were 
some  serious  abuses  of  this  arbitrary  power  in  the 
far  Northern  States."  Again  he  says  (Vol.  Ill,  p. 
254)  of  Seward,  *^  Probably  the  detection  of  political 
offenders  and  the  control  of  political  prisoners  were 
the  most  distracting  of  all  his  cares."  His  mode 
of  arrest  and  confinement  of  the  prisoners  is  de- 

127 


128  THE  REAL  LINCOLN. 

scribed  as  follows  (Vol.  II,  p.  259) :  **Some  of  the 
features  bore  a  striking  resemblance  to  the  most 
odious  institutions  of  the  ancient  regime  in  France 
— the  Bastile  and  the  Lettres  de  Cachet.''^  '*The 
person  'suspected'  of  disloyalty  was  often  seized  at 
night,  borne  off  to  the  nearest  fort,  deprived  of  his 
valuables,  locked  up  in  a  casemate,  .  .  .  gen- 
erally crowded  with  men  who  had  similar  experi- 
ences. .  .  If  he  wished  to  send  for  friends  or  an 
attorney,  he  was  informed  that  the  rules  forbade 
visitors,  that  attorneys  were  entirely  excluded,  and 
that  the  prisoner  who  sought  their  aid  would  greatly 
prejudice  his  case.^  An  appeal  to  Seward  was  the 
only  recourse — a  second,  third,  and  fourth,  all  alike 
useless.  The  Secretary  was  calm  in  the  belief  that 
the  man  was  a  plotter  and  would  do  no  harm  while 
he  remained  in  custody."  It  was  found  best  (Vol. 
II,  p.  262)  '^to  take  prominent  men  far  from  their 
homes  and  sympathizers.  .  .  .  The  suspected 
men,  notably  Marylanders,  were  carried  to  Fort 
Warren  or  other  remote  places.  ...  In  most 
cases  from  one  to  three  months  elapsed  before 
definite  action  was  taken  by  the  department.  .  .  . 
If  the  arrest  had  been  made  without  due  cause, 
no  oaths  or  conditions  of  release  were  required.'' 
.    .    .    So,  too,  *4f  the  alleged  offence  had  been  too 

1  Secretary  Seward  -wrote  to  Keys,  U.  S.  Marshal,  "you  will  therefore  please 
inform  all  the  prisoners  at  Fort  Warren  .  .  .  that  if  the  fact  comes  to 
the  knowledge  of  this  department  that  any  prisoner  has  agreed  to  pay  to  any 
attorney  a  sum  of  money,  or  to  give  him  anything  of  value  as  a  consideration 
for  interceding  for  the  release  of  such  prisoner,  that  fact  will  be  held  as  an 
additional  reason  for  continuing  the  confinement  of  such  persons.  War  of 
the  Rebellion;  Official  Records  of  the  Union  and  Confederate  Armies,  Series 
II.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  614. 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  129 

highly  colored  by  a  revengeful  enemy.  ^ ' '  See  par- 
ticulars of  several  cases  (VoL  II,  pp.  264  to  276) 
given  by  Bancroft,  and  especially  one  where  the 
action  was  aimed  at  Ex-President  Pierce,  ^^who  be- 
lieved," Bancroft  records,  **the  South  to  be  the 
aggrieved  party."  Bancroft  winds  up  this  with 
the  comprehensive  statement  that  **not  one  of  the 
political  prisoners  ^  was  brought  to  trial.  As  a  rule 
they  were  not  even  told  why  they  were  arrested. 
When  the  pressure  for  judicial  procedure  or  for  a 
candid  discussion  of  the  case  became  too  strong  to 
be  resisted  on  plausible  grounds,  the  alleged  offender 
was  released."* 

Bancroft  says  further  (Vol.  II,  p.  276,  et  seq.), 
**The  least  excusable  feature  was  the  treatment  of 
the  prisoners.  Month  after  month  many  of  them 
were  crowded  together  in  gloomy  and  damp  case- 
mates, where  even  the  dangerous  ^pirates'  captured 
on  privateers  and  soldiers  taken  in  battle  ought  not 
to  have  remained  long.  Many  had  committed  no 
overt  act.  There  were  among  them  editors  and 
political  leaders  of  character  and  honor,  but  whose 

^In  the  War  of  the  Rebellion;  Official  Records  of  the  Union  and  Con- 
federate Armies,  Series  I.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  599,  Gen.  John  A.  Dix  cautions  Secre- 
tary Seward  as  follows:  "I  arrested  in  an  interior  county  and  brought  to 
this  city  two  men  charged  with  open  acts  of  hostility  to  the  government  on 
testimony  vouched  by  the  United  States  Marshal,  yet  they  turned  out  to  be 
two  of  the  most  consistent  and  active  Union  men  in  the  neighborhood." 

3  Vol.  II.,  p.  276.     He  means  of  those  confined  by  Seward. 

*  It  is  notable  that  Bancroft,  a  man  of  our  own  day — he  lectured  to  the 
students  of  the  Hopkins  University  in  1901 — records  with  complacency,  or 
at  least  without  apology,  such  despotic  treatment  of  American  citizens.  It  is 
however,  consistent  with  his  calling  the  ships  of  war  and  the  officers  of  the 
Confederate  Navy  "privateers"  and  "pirates,"  as  elsewhere  quoted.  Semmes 
and  Arthur  Sinclair  have  told  how  this  navy  swept  from  the  face  of  the 
waters  the  whole  merchant  marine  of  the  United  States  with  the  sympathy  of 
nearly  all  Christendom. 


130  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

freedom  would  be  prejudicial  to  the  prosecution  of 
the  war.  (Vol.  II,  p.  278.)  It  was  inevitable  that  in- 
nocent men  should  be  caught  in  the  dangerous  ma- 
chinery. It  afforded  rare  opportunities  for  the 
gratification  of  personal  enmities  and  the  display  of 
power  on  the  part  of  United  States  marshals  and 
military  officers.  ...  It  happened  more  than 
once  that  men  languished  in  prisons  for  weeks  be- 
fore any  one  at  the  department  even  heard  their 
names.*' 

Justice  to  the  great  States  that  were  reduced  to 
submission  makes  it  necessary  to  give  a  few  of  the 
cruelties — the  barbarities — suffered  by  many  of  the 
imprisoned.  The  Hon.  Charles  James  Faulkner, 
who  enjoyed  very  high  honors  from  Virginia  before 
and  after  the  war,  came  back  from  his  duties  as 
Minister  to  Paris,  was  arrested  on  landing  in  New 
York  and  imprisoned  in  Fort  Lafayette,  whence  he 
wrote  the  Secretary  of  State,"  September  13,  1861, 
**A  small  casemate  of  this  frontier  and  isolated 
fortification  accommodates  eight  persons  including 
myself.  Through  three  small  apertures  a  dim  and 
imperfect  light  is  admitted — not  sufficient  to  enable 
the  occupants  to  read  or  write  unless  when  the  door 
is  open,  which  can  only  be  when  allowed  by  the  state 
of  the  weather  and  the  regulations  of  the  fort. 
.  .  .  In  another  casemate  near  me  are  twenty- 
four  prisoners  in  chains." 

This  would  have  been  extraordinary  cruelty  if  the 
prisoners  had  been  under  conviction  of  crimes,  but 
the  same  volume,  at  pp.  411  to  413,  describes  far 

^  War  of  the  Rebellion;  Official  Records  of  the  Union  and  Confederate 
Armies,   Series  II.,   Vol.  II.,  p.  470. 


THE  KEAL  LINCOLN  131 

more  barbarous  treatment  of  the  gallant  Colonel 
Thomas — known  as  Zarvona  Thomas. 

Godkin,  of  the  New  York  Nation  (Jan.  12,  1899), 
might  well  say,  as  he  did  in  one  of  his  later  edi- 
torials, ^*The  first  real  breach  in  the  Constitution 
was  made  by  the  invention  of  the  war  power  to  en- 
able President  Lincoln  to  abolish  slavery.  No  one 
would  now  say  that  this  was  not  at  that  time  neces- 
sary, but  it  made  it  possible  for  any  President 
practically  to  suspend  the  Constitution  by  getting 
up  a  war  anywhere."  .  .  .  Bancroft  gives  vari- 
ous examples  (p.  235,  note)  of  the  method  of  arrest 
— simple  telegrams,  signed  ^* Seward,"  *^ Stanton," 
or  ^^ Richard  H.  Dana" — one  was,  ^^Send  Wm.  Paine 
to  Fort  Lafayette.  F.  W.  Seward;"  for  even  a 
deputy,  son  of  the  Secretary,  exercised  tremendous 
power.  Republicans  were  arrested,  too,  (p.  235). 
Most  notable  of  the  protests  against  the  arrests  was 
one  in  a  special  message  of  Gov.  Curtin,  of  Penn- 
sylvania, one  of  the  great  *^ war-governors,"  at- 
tached to  Lincoln,  and  from  the  first  a  zealous  sup- 
porter of  the  Emancipation  Proclamation.  A.  K. 
McClure  describes  {Lincoln  and  Men  of  the  War 
Time,  p.  164)  how  he  got  a  man  named  Jere  McKib- 
ben  released  from  quite  causeless  imprisonment  by 
Stanton,  and  adds,  '*!  had  quite  frequently  been  to 
Washington  before  when  arbitrary  and  quite  un- 
justifiable arrests  of  civilians  had  been  made  in 
Pennsylvania."  Rhodes  says  {History  of  the  United 
States,  Vol.  IV,  p.  413),  *' Seward  and  Stanton  had 
caused  many  arrests  with  no  more  formality  than  a 
telegraphic  dispatch." 


132  THE  EEAL  LINCOLN 

The  sacred  right  to  trial,  without  which  all  other 
rights  are  vain,  was  almost  always  denied,  as  else- 
where shown,  but  release  was  sometimes  granted  on 
singular  conditions,  as  when'  James  G.  Berdet, 
Mayor  of  Washington  city,  *^was  required  as  a  con- 
dition of  his  discharge  from  Fort  Delaware  to  resign 
the  office  of  Mayor. ' '  The  same  volume  tells  of  the 
arrest  and  imprisonment  of  the  editor  of  the  Be- 
puhlican  Watchman,  of  Greenport,  Long  Island,  and 
(p.  670)  shows  that  his  family  were  supported  by 
subscriptions  of  sympathizing  neighbors. 

The  story  is  well  known  that  when  the  English 
Minister,  Lord  Lyons,  called  the  attention  of  the 
Secretary  of  State,  Seward,  to  the  bitter  opposition 
to  the  war  that  was  showing  itself  everywhere,  Se- 
ward answered  that  with  his  little  bell  he  could  im- 
prison any  citizen  in  any  State,  and  that  no  one  but 
the  President  could  release  him.  Bancroft  says 
(Vol.  II,  p.  280) :  '*If  he  made  this  remark,  it  is  of 
no  special  importance ;  it  was  a  fact  that  he  was  al- 
most as  free  from  restraint  as  a  dictator  or  a 
sultan." 

The  methods  of  the  State  Department  that  are 
described  above  did  not  surpass  in  any  respect  those 
of  the  War  Department.  The  latter  even  created 
neiv  offenses,  ending  a  list  of  them  with,'  *^any  other 
disloyal  practice,"  and  it  authorized  and  directed 
*^  arrest  and  imprisonment  in  the  discretion  of  even 
chiefs  of  police  of  any  town  or  district." 

^  War  of  the  Rebellion;  Official  Records  of  the  Union  and  Confederate 
Armies,  Series  II.,  Vol.  II.,  pp.  596  to  599. 

'  War  of  the  Rebellion;  Official  Records  of  the  Union  and  Confederate 
Armies,  Series  III.,  Vol.  II.,  p.  321. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

GENERAL  OPPOSITION  AND  RESISTANCE  TO   COERCION  AND 
EMANCIPATION 

THE  advocacy  of  views  strongly  opposed  to  the 
war  and  to  emancipation  did  not  cease  in  the 
North  and  the  West  when  the  war  began,  dangerous 
as  it  soon  became  to  advocate  them.  Imprisonment 
without  trial,  trials  by  court-martial,  sentences  to 
confinement  in  prisons  or  fortresses  remote  from 
home  and  friends,  did  reduce  at  last  to  silence  all 
but  the  boldest — even  Missourians,  Kentuckians, 
and  Marylanders ;  and  similar  methods  of  repres- 
sion were  used  in  States  remotest  from  the  scenes 
of  the  war.  In  this  chapter  an  account  will  be  given 
of  the  general  resistance  throughout  the  North  and 
"West,  and  succeeding  chapters  will  describe  the  re- 
sistance in  the  separate  States  and  groups  of  States, 
and  the  methods  by  which  resistance  was  sup- 
pressed. 

Nicolay  and  Hay  give  (Vol.  VIII,  p.  29,  et  seq.) 
a  full  account  of  the  ^^ disloyalty"  in  the  North  and 
West,  and  say,  too  (Vol.  IV,  p.  234),  that  '4n  the 
Western  States  the  words  Democrat  and  Copper- 
head became  after  January,  1863,  practically  synon- 
ymous, and  a  cognomen  applied  as  a  reproach  was 
assumed  with  pride."  Professor  Channing,  of  Har- 
vard, says,'  ^^In  the  Mississippi  Valley  hundreds  of 

*  Channing's  Short  History  of  the   United  States,  p.   314. 

133 


134  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

thousands  of  men  either  sympathized  with  the  slave- 
holders or  cared  nothing  about  the  slavery  dispute/' 
George  S.  Boutwell  says,'  ^^With  varying  degrees 
of  intensity  the  Democratic  party  of  the  North 
sympathized  with  the  South,  and  arraigned  Lincoln 
and  the  Republican  party  for  all  that  the  country 
was  called  to  endure.  During  the  entire  period  of 
the  war  New  York,  Ohio,  and  Illinois  were  doubtful 
States,  and  Indiana  was  kept  in  line  only  by  the  ac- 
tive and  desperate  fidelity  of  Oliver  P.  Morton." 
Secretary  Welles,  of  Lincoln's  Cabinet,  says  (At- 
lantic Monthly,  Vol.  XYI,  p.  266) :  ^^The  Democrats 
were  in  sympathy  with  the  rebels,  .  .  .  and 
opposed  to  the  war  itself." 

Eidpath  says,"  *^  During  this  year  (1863)  the  Ad- 
ministration of  President  Lincoln  was  beset  with 
many  difficulties.  .  .  .  The  Anti-War  party  of 
the  North  had  grown  more  bold,  and  openly  de- 
nounced the  measures  of  the  Government.  .  .  . 
In  many  places  the  draft  officers  were  forcibly  re- 
sisted. .  .  .  The  anti-war  spirit  in  some  parts 
of  the  North  ran  so  high  that  on  the  19th  of  August 
President  Lincoln  issued  a  proclamation  suspending 
the  privileges  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  through- 
out the  Union." 

Everywhere  there  were  men  who  made  more  or 
less  bitter  protest  or  resistance  against  such  sub- 
version, by  methods  known  only  to  the  Sultan  or  the 
Czar,  of  what  Americans  had  been  taught  to  call 
the  conditions  of  freedom — a  free  press,  free  speech, 

^Abraham  Lincoln,  Tributes  from  His  Associates,  p.  85,  et  seq. 
3  Popular  History  of  the  United  States,  published  in  1883,  p.  522. 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  135 

the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  and  trial  by  jury.  In 
Cincinnati,  in  Chicago,  in  Boston,  and  elsewhere, 
demonstrations  toward  violent  resistance  very 
alarming  to  the  Administration  at  Washington  were 
suppressed  with  the  strong  hand  before  coming  to 
a  head.  Gilmore  (Personal  Recollections  of  Lin- 
coln, p.  199)  speaks  of  *'the  wide  Western  con- 
spiracy so  opportunely  strangled  in  Chicago,"  and 
devotes  a  chapter  to  it. 

When  the  storm  was  rising  there  came  from  the 
Democratic  leaders  in  the  *^ loyal"  States  as  distinct 
asseverations  of  the  wrongs  the  South  was  endur- 
ing, as  full  assurances  that  the  South  had  the  right 
to  withdraw  from  the  partnership,  as  full  denial  of 
any  possible  right  in  the  Federal  Government  to  use 
coercion,  as  any  Southern  leader  ever  set  forth; 
with  further  assurances  that  the  Democrats  of  the 
North  and  West  would  fight  on  the  Southern  side 
in  any  appeal  to  arms. 

The  extreme  Abolitionists  also  bitterly  opposed 
the  war.  President  Theodore  Eoosevelt's  Cromwell 
says  (p.  103)  that  at  the  close  of  the  war  *Hhe  Gar- 
rison ...  or  disunion  Abolitionists  .  .  . 
had  seen  their  cause  triumph,  not  through,  but  in 
spite  of,  their  efforts."  And  Gorham's  Life  of 
Stanton  (Vol.  I,  p.  163,  et  seq.)  says,  **The  Eepub- 
licans  .  .  .  were  divided  into  two  classes,  one, 
which  desired  separation,  etc.,"  .  .  .  and  (Vol. 
I,  p.  193)  tells  of  ^^a  new  element,  headed  by  promi- 
nent Eepublican  leaders  like  Greeley  and  Chase, 
who  thought  that  a  union  of  non-slaveholding  States 
would  be  preferable  to  any  attempt  to  maintain  by 


136  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

force  the  Union  with  the  slaveholding  States."  Ob- 
serve how  exactly  these  conclusions  agreed  with 
the  conclusions  to  which  the  Southern  leaders  had 
come. 

A  letter  of  Chase  quoted  in  his  Life  by  Warden 
(p.  363,  et  seq.)  says:  **It  is  precisely  because  they 
anticipate  abolition  as  the  result  that  the  Garrison 
Abolitionists  desire  disunion."  Schouler  says  of 
Garrison,  Phillips  and  their  immediate  followers 
(History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  VI,  p.  225), 
**They  were  the  avowed  Disunionists  on  the  North- 
ern side."  .  .  .  Burgess  says  (The  Civil  War 
and  the  Constitution,  Vol.  I,  p.  148),  **The  Aboli- 
tionist wing  of  the  Republican  party  was  never 
noted  for  strong  unionism,"  and  (p.  227)  ^^down  to 
our  civil  war  the  Abolitionist  preached  destruction 
of  the  Union."  Leland  says  (Lincoln,  p.  199)  about 
the  election  of  1864:  *^The  ultra  abolition  adherents 
of  General  Fremont  were  willing  to  see  a  pro- 
slavery  President — McClellan — elected  rather  than 
Mr.  Lincoln,  so  great  was  their  hatred  of  him  and 
emancipation.  ...  As  the  election  drew  on, 
threats  and  rumors  of  revolution  in  the  North  were 
rife."  Keifer  says  (his  Slavery  and  Four  Years  of 
War,  p.  172,  et  seq.),  ** There  was  also,  though 
strangely  inconsistent,  a  very  considerable  class  of 
the  early  Abolitionists  of  the  Garrison-Smith-Phil- 
lips school  who  did  not  support  the  war  for  the 
Union,  but  preferred  the  slaveholding  States  should 
secede."  Channing  says  (Short  History  of  the 
United  States),  ^^The  Abolitionists  welcomed  the 
secession  of  the  Slave  States." 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  137 

In  spite  of  the  support  of  the  war  forced  on  the 
Democracy,  as  above  described,  they  made  a  steady 
struggle  in  the  courts,  in  Congress,  and  in  the  State 
governments,  to  keep  down  the  war  to  something 
like  constitutional  limits  as  far  as  possible,  and  to 
such  conditions  as  might  leave  room  for  reconcilia- 
tion in  the  future.  Vallandigham's  and  Seymour's 
conduct,  of  which  particulars  will  be  given  below, 
furnish  examples,  and  General  McClellan's  is  an- 
other example.  For  years  no  pains  were  spared 
to  cry  down  General  McClellan  in  vindication  of 
Lincoln's  dealings  with  him,  but  evidence  of  the 
truth  has  been  too  strong.  Even  Nicolay  and  Hay 
have  to  concede  to  McClellan  the  very  highest  praise 
for  pure  patriotism,  and  the  concessions  have  grown 
greater  with  each  succeeding  historian  till  Rhodes, 
one  of  the  ablest,  deplores  ^  the  fact  that  Lincoln 
could  not  see  McClellan  as  we  see  him,  and  that 
Lincoln  deferred  the  capture  of  Richmond  and  the 
downfall  of  the  Confederacy  for  two  years  by  re- 
moving McClellan  from  command  of  the  army. 
Ropes  passes  hardly  less  severe  censure  on  Lincoln " 
for  his  dealings  with  McClellan,  and  Rhodes  and 
Ropes  are  very  hostile  critics  of  McClellan." 

In  this  connection  there  are  some  unconscious  be- 
trayals of  the  real  estimate  of  Lincoln  that  was 
entertained  by  a  number  of  his  eminent  eulogists. 

*  History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  IV.,  p.  109  and  p.  106,  et  seq. 

^  Story  of  the  Civil  War,  Part  II.,  p.  132,  et  seq.,  p.  442,  et  seq.,  p.  473, 
et  seq. 

•  See  John  Fiske's  Mississippi  Valley  in  the  Civil  War,  p.  148,  et  seq.,  and 
his  quotation  of  censure  of  Lincoln  to  the  same  effect  from  the  Count  of  Paris. 
See  Ida  Tarbell  in  McClure's  Magazine  for  May,  1899,  pp.  192  to  199,  et  seq., 
and  see  Henderson's  Life  of  Stonewall  Jackson,  Vol.  I.,  p.  307. 


138  THE  KEAL  LINCOLN 

Eight  of  them  "^  have  thought  it  worth  while,  if  not 
necessary,  to  declare  very  expressly  their  belief  that 
Lincoln  did  not  purposely  betray  General  McClellan 
and  his  army  in  the  Seven-Days'  battles  before 
Eichmond.  McClellan,  in  his  celebrated  dispatch 
after  his  retreat,  reproached  Stanton  with  this 
atrocious  crime,  and  so  worded  the  dispatch  that 
he  imputed  the  same  guilt  to  Lincoln. 

A.  K.  McClure '  and  Nicolay  and  Hay  {Abraham 
Lincoln,  p.  441,  et  seq.,  and  p.  451)  deplore  that 
McClellan  should  have  believed  Lincoln  capable  of 
it,  both  conceding  to  McClellan  the  most  exalted 
character,  ability,  and  patriotism. 

Of  Lincoln's  dealings  with  McClellan,  A.  K.  Mc- 
Clure says'  ^^Many  charged,  as  did  McClellan,  that 
he  had  been  with  his  army,  deliberately  betrayed  by 
the  Secretary  of  War,  if  not  by  Lincoln."  A  gen- 
tleman who  commanded  a  division  in  the  Union 
army  in  one  of  the  great  battles  said  to  the  author 
of  this  book,  **If  McClellan  had  taken  Richmond, 
it  would  have  been  an  end  of  the  Eepublican 
party. ' ' 

Dr.  Burgess,  Professor  of  Political  Science  in 
the  Columbia  University,  closes  the  treatment  of 

^The  eight  are  the  following:  A.  K.  McClure,  see  Lincoln  and  Men  of  the 
War  Time,  p.  102,  p.  207,  et  seq.;  Dr.  Holland,  see  Abraham  Lincoln,  p.  753, 
et  seq.;  John  Coddman  Ropes,  see  Story  of  the  Civil  War,  Part  II.,  p.  116, 
p.  171,  p.  230,  p.  442,  et  seq.,  and  p.  473,  et  seq.;  Rhodes,  see  History  of  the 
United  States,  Vol.  IV.,  p.  50,  et  seq.;  Hon.  George  S.  Boutwell,  see  Tributes 
from  His  Associates,  p.  69;  Schouler,  see  History  of  the  United  States,  p.  193, 
et  seq.;  Henderson,  see  Life  of  Stonewall  Jackson,  Vol.  I.,  p.  499;  Nicolay  and 
Hay,  see  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  VI.,  p.  189,  et  seq.,  p.  441,  et  seq.,  and 
p.  451. 

^Lincoln  and  Men  of  the  War  Time,  p.  102. 

^Lincoln  and  Men  of  the  War  Time,  pp.  208,  248;  see  too,  Nicolay  and 
Hay's  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  VI.,  p.  189,  et  seq. 


THE  KEAL  LINCOLN  139 

the  subject  of  General  McClellan's  military  career 
with  the  following  very  curious  and  very  suggestive 
words:'"  ^'Whether  a  crushing  victory  over  the 
Confederates,  ending  at  once  the  rebellion  before 
slavery  was  destroyed,  was  wanted  by  all  of  those 
who  composed  the  Washington  Government,  may 
well  be  suspected.  And  it  is  very  nearly  certain 
that  there  were  some  who  would  have  preferred  de- 
feat to  such  a  victory  with  McClellan  in  command. 
It  was  a  dark,  mysterious,  uncanny  thing,  which  the 
historian  does  not  need  to  touch  and  prefers  not  to 
touch. ' ' 

Those  who  have  labored  most  to  discredit  McClel- 
lan as  a  general  have  been  obliged  to  concede  to  him 
some  of  the  noblest  qualities  and  highest  gifts — 
perfect  purity,  honor  and  patriotism,  unsurpassed 
skill  in  army  organization,  and  the  power  to  win 
and  to  keep,  even  when  consigned  by  the  President 
to  disgrace,  the  ardent  love  and  admiration  of  his 
soldiers.  It  is  full  time  that  some  one  who  loves 
his  good  name,  or  some  one  who  loves  justice,  should 
** touch''  and  reveal  to  the  world  *Hhe  dark,  mys- 
terious, uncanny  thing''  that  Dr.  Burgess  points  at. 

When  Lincoln  refused  to  hear  at  all,  or  to  see  the 
Southern  Commissioners — Clement  Clay  and  James 
P.  Holcombe — unless  they  could  show  **  written  au- 
thority from  Jefferson  Davis"  to  make  uncondi- 
tional surrender,  Greeley,  who  had  procured  their 
coming  to  negotiate  a  cessation  of  the  war,  protested 
against  Lincoln's  action  as  follows  in  a  letter  writ- 
ten him  and  published  in  the  Tribune  in  July  1864 

^^  The  Civil  War  and  the  Constitution,  published  lately. 


140  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

(Holland's  Abraham  Lincoln,  p.  478) :  ^^Our  bleed- 
ing, bankrupt,  almost  dying  country  longs  for  peace, 
shudders  at  the  prospect  of  fresh  conscriptions,  of 
further  wholesale  devastation,  and  new  rivers  of 
human  blood ;  and  there  is  a  widespread  conviction 
that  the  Government  and  its  supporters  are  not  anx- 
ious for  peace  and  do  not  improve  proffered  oppor- 
tunities to  achieve  it."  Greeley  further  intimates 
(p.  482)  the  possibility  of  a  Northern  insurrection. 
Charles  A.  Dana,  Lincoln's  Secretary  of  War,  says, 
in  his  Recollections  of  the  Civil  War,  that  in  April, 
1862,  Greeley  *Svas  for  peace."  Nicolay  and  Hay 
(Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  I,  pp.  184  to  200)  describe 
the  transaction  above  as  ** Horace  Greeley's  Peace 
Mission."  The  Life  of  Hamlin,  p.  437,  says  Gree- 
ley called  the  above  letter  ^Hhe  prayer  of  twenty 
millions  of  people." 

Gilmore  (Personal  Recollections  of  Lincoln,  p. 
231)  shows  the  bitterest  reprobation  on  his  own 
part  of  the  South  and  of  its  cause,  but  he  records 
the  following  as  *^the  almost  unanimous  feeling  of 
the  Northern  people — of  Radical  Republicans  as 
well  as  honest  Democrats — during  the  winter  of 
1863  and  the  spring  of  1864:"  ^^  There  must  be 
some  way  to  end  this  wretched  business.  Tell  us 
what  it  is,  and  be  it  armistice,  concession,  compro- 
mise, anything  whatever,  we  will  welcome  it,  so  long 
as  it  terminates  this  suicidal  war." 

Rhodes  quotes  (History  of  the  United  States) 
General  Hooker's  testimony  to  a  committee  of  the 
House,  as  follows:  *'So  anxious  were  parents, 
wives,  brothers,  and  sisters  to  relieve  their  kindred. 


THE  KEAL  LINCOLN  141 

that  they  filled  the  express  trains  to  the  army  with 
packages  of  citizen's  clothing  to  assist  them  in  es- 
caping from  the  service.''  Hooker  was  testifying 
as  Commander  in  Chief  of  the  Army  of  the  Poto- 
mac. 

General  U.  S.  Grant  complains  "  ^ '  that  General 
Lee's  praise  was  sounded  through  the  entire  North 
after  every  action ; "  .  .  .  that  he  was  ^ '  extolled 
by  the  entire  press  of  the  South  after  every  engage- 
ment and  by  a  portion  of  the  press  of  the  North 
with  equal  vehemence;  .  .  .  that  there  were 
good  and  true  officers  who  believed  now  that  the 
Army  of  Northern  Virginia  was  superior  to  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac,  man  to  man."  James  Eus- 
sell  Lowell  wrote  Motley,  July  18,  1864,  '^The 
apathy  and  discouragement  throughout  the  country 
took  the  shape  of  a  yearning  for  peace."  General 
Ben.  F.  Butler  pictures  the  public  mind  {Butler^ s 
BooJc^  p.  576,  et  seq.)  in  such  words  as  follow: 
.  .  .  ^' There  being  several  parties  who  wanted 
a  dictator,  .  .  .  the  property  men  of  the  coun- 
try, who  thought  that  the  expenses  of  the  war  were 
so  enormous  that  it  should  be  immediately  ended  by 
negotiation,  .  .  .  the  New  Yorh  Times,  in  an 
elaborate  editorial,  proposed  that  George  Law,  an 
extensive  manufacturer  of  New  York,  should  be 
made  dictator."     .     .     . 

Rhodes  says  {History  of  the  United  States,  Vol. 
IV,  p.  222)  that  *^  Greeley  in  his  great  journal  {New 
York  Tribune)  advocated  the  mediation  of  a  Euro- 
pean power  between  the  North  and  the  South;"  that 

^^  Personal  Memoirs  of  U.  S.  Grant,  New  York,  1886,  pp.  291,  292. 


142  THE  KEAL  LINCOLN 

lie  corresponded  with  Vallandigham  and  the  French 
Minister,  Mercier,  '^setting  forth  that  the  people 
would  welcome  a  foreign  mediation  that  terminated 
the  war;"  and  Rhodes  adds,  in  a  note,  the  follow- 
ing, from  John  Sherman^s  Letters,  that  Greeley 
said  to  Eaymond,  editor  of  New  York  Times:  ^M 
mean  to*  carry  out  this  policy  and  bring  the  war  to 
a  close.  You'll  see  that  I'll  drive  Lincoln  to  it;" 
which  shows  his  opinion  as  to  Lincoln's  purposes. 

Ehodes  says  (History/  of  the  United  States,  Vol. 
IV,  p.  492),  ^^When  Lincoln  visited  Grant's  army, 
June  21,  1864,  .  .  .  gloom  had  settled  down  on 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac  and  was  soon  spread 
over  the  country.  .  .  .  The  entire  army  seemed 
demoralized."  And  Ehodes  quotes  Joseph  Medill's 
letter  to  Colfax,  ^  ^  Sometimes  I  think  nothing  is  left 
now  but  to  fight  for  a  boundary."  Again  Ehodes 
says  (History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  IV,  p.  506), 
*^July  19,  1864,  Halleck  wrote  Grant:  ^We  are  now 
receiving  one-half  as  many  as  we  are  discharging. 
Volunteering  has  virtually  ceased;'  "  and  he  says 
that  about  the  middle  of  June,  1864,  after  Grant 
crossed  the  James  river  and  was  attacking  Peters- 
burg (p.  490,  et  seq.)y  ^'Eeinforcements  were  con- 
stantly sent  to  Grant,  but  they  were  for  the  most 
part  mercenaries,  many  of  whom  were  diseased, 
immoral,  or  cowardly.  Such  men  were  now  in  too 
large  a  proportion  to  insure  efficient  work." 

Ehodes  says  (History  of  the  United  States,  Vol. 
IV,  p.  236,  et  seq.),  to  justify  the  conscription  act 
of  Congress  that  was  approved  March  3,  1863, 
*' volunteering  had  practically  ceased,"  and  he  uses 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  143 

just  the  same  words  on  p.  330,  adding  ^  ^  Only  a  pretty 
vigorous  conscription  could  furnish  the  soldiers 
needed." 

Ehodes  quotes  (Vol.  Ill,  p.  486,  et  seq.)  a  letter 
to  Chase  from  Richard  Smith,  editor  of  the  Cincin- 
nati Gazette,  which  tells  of  ^  sober  citizens  .  .  . 
trampling  under  foot  the  portrait  of  the  President ; 
.  .  .  burning  the  President  in  effigy;  .  .  . 
low  murmurings  favorable  to  a  Western  Confed- 
eracy; .  .  .  sudden  check  to  enlistments; 
.  .  .  rejection  of  treasury  notes  by  German  citi- 
zens.    .     .     ." 

Bancroft  (Life  of  Seward,  Vol.  II,  p.  407)  says  of 
the  fall  of  Atlanta,  that  it  was  as  unwelcome  to  the 
Democrats  as  an  earthquake. 

The  attitude  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church 
towards  coercion  and  emancipation  is  illustrated  by 
the  following:  Allen's  Life  of  Phillips  Brooks,  says 
(Vol.  I,  p.  425),  .  .  .  *'Its  membership  was  to 
a  large  extent  in  the  Democratic  party,  with  whom 
the  question  of  States '  Rights  was  the  chief  political 
issue  involved  in  the  war."  The  Convention  of 
Western  New  York,  seeking  exemption  from  draft 
for  its  clergy,  found  no  better  evidence  of  the 
Church's  'Royalty"  to  urge  than  is  in  the  following 
words:"  ^* Appealing  to  our  liturgy  and  practice  in 
proof  of  our  loyalty  to  our  Government  on  the  broad 
principle  of  Christian  truth,  praying  constantly  in 
our  public  worship  for  yourself" — they  were  ad- 
dressing the  President — '*and  all  in  authority,  and 

*2  War    of    the    Rebellion;    Official    Records    of    the    Union    and    Confederate 
Armies,  Serial   Number  125,   p.   694. 


144  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

deprecating  all  sedition,  privy  conspiracy  and  re- 
bellion.'^  Resolutions  known  as  the  ^'Brunot  reso- 
lutions" were  adopted  by  the  General  Convention  of 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  1862.  The  New 
York  Nation,  of  April  11,  1891,  says  of  them  ^^Mild 
as  the  resolutions  were,  they  reached  the  highest 
point  of  loyalty  that  the  Episcopal  Church  at- 
tained. ' ' 


CHAPTER  XX 

DESPOTISM   IN   MARYLAND 

FAMILIARITY  has  made  our  ears  very  dull  to 
facts  that  once  would  have  set  the  country's 
heart  aflame  with  patriotic  wrath — of  newspapers 
suppressed,  a  censored  press,  the  Great  Writ  sus- 
pended. It  may  profit  our  old  men  to  recall  and  our 
young  men  to  learn  accurately  how  such  things 
worked  when  applied  in  Baltimore  and  Maryland. 
Dr.  Holland  says  (Abraham  Lincoln,  p.  296)  that 
in  Maryland,  *^out  of  92,000  votes  cast  at  the  presi- 
dential election  of  1860,  only  a  little  more  than 
2,000  had  been  cast  for  Mr.  Lincoln.  .  .  .  The 
sympathies  of  four  persons  in  every  five  were  with 
the  rebellion." 

General  Butler  sets  forth  that  with  the  force  or- 
ganized already  at  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  and 
the  welcome  that  awaited  them  in  Virginia  and 
Maryland,  success  would  have  been  easy  for  the 
Confederate  Government  at  Montgomery,  Alabama, 
and  that  (Butler^s  Booh,  p.  220)  *Hhe  capture  and 
occupation  of  Washington  would  have  almost  in- 
sured the  Confederacy  at  once  a  place  by  recogni- 
tion as  a  power  among  the  nations  of  the  earth;" 
and  that  (pp.  19-22)  Maryland  undoubtedly  would 
have  hastened  to  join  the  Confederacy  in  such  a 
contingency.  That  would  have  transferred  the  line 
of  battle  from  the  Potomac  to  the   Susquehanna. 

145 


146  THE  EEAL  LINCOLN 

Very  probably  Delaware  would  have  in  that  event 
joined  the  Confederacy,  or  at  least  have  remained 
neutral,  as  her  leading  statesman,  Senator  Bayard, 
said  that  if  the  war  could  not  be  averted,  and  if  his 
State  preferred  war  to  the  peaceful  separation  of 
the  States,  he  would  cheerfully  and  gladly  resign  his 
seat  in  the  Senate." 

Schouler  {History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  VI, 
p.  47,  et  seq.)  describes  how  Gen.  B.  F.  Butler,  13th 
May,  1861,  *^made  a  sudden  entry  into  Baltimore '^ 
with  his  troops — ^proceeded  to  make  ^^  vindictive 
civil  arrests,''  and  was  replaced  by  General  Scott — 
how  Scott  deputed  ^Hhe  high  and  delicate  trust  of 
suspending  habeas  corpus^'  to  Cadwalader,  a  Penn- 
sylvania General  of  Militia.  He  says,  ^*In  vain  did 
Chief  Justice  Taney  record  his  protest  against  such 
suspension,''  and  tells  how  General  Banks,  successor 
to  Cadwalader,  **  pursued  by  orders  from  Washing- 
ton, the  same  stern  military  course."  He  broke  up 
the  Baltimore  Police  Board,  whose  designs  were  be- 
lieved disloyal.  He  prevented  the  Legislature  from 
meeting  once  more  in  September,  by  boldly  arrest- 
ing its  disunion  members  and  preventing  a  quorum.* 

The  War  of  the  Rebellion,  Series  1,  Vol.  V,  pp. 
193- '7,  gives  as  follows  orders  of  Cameron,  Secre- 
tary of  War,  to  Gen.  N.  P.  Banks,  September  11, 
1861:  *^The  passage  of  any  act  of  secession  by  the 
Legislature  of  Maryland  must  be  prevented.  If 
necessary  all  or  any  part  of  the  members  must  be 

*  Russell's  My  Diary  (p,  198)  mentions  the  news  that  twenty-two  "mem- 
bers of  the  Maryland  Legislature  have  been  seized  by  the  Federal  authorities." 
This  is  of  date  September  11,  1861.  See  Dunning's  Essays  on  the  Civil  War, 
dc,  pp.  19,  21,  et  seq. 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  147 

arrested/'  Letters  of  Allen  Pinkerton  and  of  Gen- 
erals John  E.  Wool,  John  A.  Dix,  and  N.  P.  Banks, 
report  with  enthusiasm  the  arrest,  by  use  of  soldiers 
from  New  York,  and  the  close  confinement  of  mem- 
bers of  Congress,  officers  of  the  Baltimore  city  gov- 
ernment, and  members  of  the  Legislature,  among 
whom  are  named  Henry  May,  Mayor  George  Wil- 
liam Brown,  S.  Teakle  Wallis,  Henry  M.  Warfield, 
Charles  H.  Pitts,  Ross  Winans,  John  Hanson, 
Thomas,  E.  C.  McCubbin,  and  F.  Key  Howard. 

Ehodes  says  {History  of  the  United  States,  Vol. 
Ill,  p.  553,  et  seq,)  of  these  same  occurrences, 
^^  Under  this  order  General  Dix  apprehended  ten 
members-elect  of  the  Legislature,  the  Mayor  of  Bal- 
timore, a  congressman,  and  two  editors;  and  at 
Frederick  City,  the  meeting-place  of  the  Legislature, 
General  Banks  laid  hold  of  nine  secession  members. 
These  men  were  subsequently  confined  in  Fort  La- 
fayette, New  York,  and  in  Fort  Warren,  Boston, 
where  other  state-prisoners,  arrested  in  Kentucky 
and  Missouri,  were  also  incarcerated.  Ehodes  con- 
cedes that  these  were  ^infractions  of  the  Constitu- 
tion," but  tries  to  justify  it  all.  Leland  is  more 
frank,  both  in  clearly  conceding  it  was  Lincoln's 
doing  and  in  justifying  it,  as  follows  (Abraham 
Lincoln,  p.  132) :  ^^But  he  could  be  bold  enough  to 
sail  closely  enough  to  the  law  when  justice  demanded 
it.  In  September,  1861,  the  rebels  in  Maryland  came 
near  procuring  the  passage  of  an  act  of  secession 
in  the  Legislature  of  that  State.  General  McClellan 
was  promptly  ordered  to  prevent  this  by  the  arrest 
of  the  treasonable  legislators,  ana  the  State  was 


148  THE  KEAL  LINCOLN 

saved  from  civil  war.  Raymond  also  tells  {Life  and 
State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  p.  4)  of  the  ar- 
rest of  nine  members  of  the  Maryland  Legislature, 
and  gives  (p.  5)  the  President's  statement  about 
arrests  and  (pp.  7,  8,  and  10)  his  suspension  of  the 
writ  and  his  system  of  provost  marshals  that  en- 
abled him  to  reach  every  part  of  the  country. 

Schouler,  after  presenting  the  facts  in  like  man- 
ner as  the  rest,  makes  the  following  remarkable 
presentation  of  the  consequences:  ^^But  the  seces- 
sion spirit  of  Maryland  waned  speedily,  as  the 
popular  vote  for  Congress  on  the  13th  June  first 
indicated,  and  the  Star-Spangled-Banner  State 
could  not  be  seduced  by  lyric  or  artful  flattery  from 
her  national  allegiance.  ...  In  November  there 
was  a  newly-chosen  Legislature,  ^4oyal  in  its  com- 
position," and  Governor  Hicks,  ^^no  longer  waver- 
ing, announced  with  emphasis  that  Maryland  had 
no  sympathy  with  rebellion,  but  desired  to  do  her 
full  share  in  the  duty  of  suppressing  it."  Schouler 
might  have  found  a  rhetorical  designation  for 
Maryland  better  suited  to  the  occasion  than  the 
** Star-Spangled-Banner  State."  The  grandson  of 
the  author  of  the  Star-Spangled  Banner,  Francis 
Key  Howard,  editor  of  the  Exchange  Newspaper  of 
Baltimore,  had  been  arrested  on  the  morning  of  the 
13th  of  September,  1861,  about  1  o'clock,  by  order 
of  General  Banks,  and  taken  to  Fort  McHenry.  He 
says  {Fourteen  Months  in  American  Bastile,  p.  9) : 
^^When  I  looked  out  in  the  morning,  I  could  not  help 
being  struck  by  an  odd  and  not  pleasant  coincidence. 
On  that  day  forty-seven  years  before  my  grandfather, 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  149 

Mr.  F.  S.  Key,  then  prisoner  on  a  British  ship,  had 
witnessed  the  bombardment  of  Fort  McHenry. 
When  on  the  following  morning  the  hostile  fleet  drew 
off,  defeated,  he  wrote  the  song  so  long  popular 
throughout  the  country,  the  Star-Spangled  Banner. 
As  I  stood  upon  the  very  scene  of  that  conflict,  I 
could  not  but  contrast  my  position  with  his,  forty- 
seven  years  before.  The  flag  which  he  had  then  so 
proudly  hailed,  I  saw  waving  at  the  same  place 
over  the  victims  of  as  vulgar  and  brutal  a  despotism 
as  modern  times  have  witnessed.'''' 

Bancroft  (Life  of  Wm.  H,  Seward,  Vol.  II,  p.  276, 
et  seq.)  says,  '^It  is  extremely  doubtful  if  Maryland 
could  have  been  saved  from  secession  and  Washing- 
ton from  consequent  seizure  if  the  Mayor  and  Police 
Commissioners  of  Baltimore,  several  members  of 
the  Legislature,  and  many  prominent  citizens  of 
both  Maryland  and  Virginia,  had  not  been  deprived 
of  their  power  to  do  harm."  An  earlier  statement 
(p.  254)  shows  how  they  were  deprived  of  it,  as  fol- 
lows: After  the  suspension  of  the  writ  of  habeas 
corpus,  *^the  Baltimore  Marshal  of  Police,  the  Police 
Commissioners,  and  other  men  of  prominence  were 
seized  and  sent  to  the  United  States  fort.  Several 
members  of  the  Legislature  that  were  expecting  to 
push  through  an  ordinance  of  secession  the  next  day 
were  arrested  in  September,  1861,  and  treated  like 
other  political  prisoners."  The  list  would  be  long 
of  the  men  most  honored  and  trusted  in  Maryland 

*  For  his  imprisonment  in  Fort  Monroe  and  that  of  twenty-three  members 
of  the  Maryland  liegislature  and  others  see  "Life  of  Senator  J.  M.  Mason"  by 
his  daughter,  Mis«  Virginia  Mason,  pp.  205-207  and  p.  209. 


150  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

who  were  kept  in  close,  painful,  and  often  fatal  con- 
finement until  the  next  election-day  was  past.  A 
special  proclamation  of  the  War  Department  was 
addressed  to  Marylanders,  deploring  the  necessity 
of  keeping  in  prison  so  large  a  number  of  prominent 
citizens  of  the  State,  and  expressing  regret  that 
*^ public  policy"  did  not  permit  the  charges  on  which 
they  were  arrested  to  be  revealed  to  themselves  or 
to  their  friends,  with  assurances  that  no  private 
grudges  have  been  allowed  to  have  influence  in  the 
arrests.  Mr.  Charles  A.  Dana  records,"  with  evident 
complacency,  the  arrest  in  one  day  of  ninety-seven 
of  the  first  people  in  Baltimore  and  their  imprison- 
ment in  Washington,  mostly  in  solitary  confine- 
ment. 

General  John  A.  Dix  writes  Mr.  Montgomery 
Blair,  August  31, 1861,*  that  he  hesitates  to  suppress 
the  Exchange  newspaper  without  authority  from 
the  commanding  general,  McClellan,  and  Blair  for- 
wards the  letter  to  McClellan,  with  the  endorsement : 
**I  believe  the  Exchange,  the  Republican  and  the 
South  should  be  suppressed.  They  are  open  disun- 
ionists.  The  Sun  is  in  sympathy,  but  less  diaboli- 
cal.'' 

In  October,  1861,  General  Dix  writes  the  Secre- 
tary of  War,  Stanton,  that  he  has  *'some  doubt 
about  the  expediency  of  allowing  Dr.  A.  C.  Eobin- 
son  to  return  to  Baltimore  until  after  the  fall  elec- 
tion,'' though  he  concedes  that  Dr.  E.  is  **not  a 
dangerous  man  like  Wallis."    He  is  ^^  confident  that 

3  In  his  lately  published  Recollections  of  the  Civil  War,  p.  236,  et  seq. 
*  War    of    the    Rebellion;    Official    Records    of    the    Union    and    Confederate 
Armies,  Series  II.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  590. 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  151 

Maryland  will  be  a  Union  State  in  November, ' '  and 
he  might  well  be  confident,  for  between  pages  536 
and  738  of  the  volume  above  indicated  are  scores  of 
letters  of  Generals  Dix,  N.  P.  Banks,  John  E.  Wool, 
and  Winfield  Scott,  and  of  Secretary  Seward,  which 
show  that  a  very  great  number  of  the  most  honored 
men  in  Maryland  including  a  large  part  of  the  of- 
ficials of  the  State  government  and  the  Baltimore 
city  government,  were  in  prison  and  that  every  man 
of  the  least  importance  who  had  left  it  in  doubt 
whether  he  meant  to  support  Mr.  Lincoln  had  good 
reason  to  expect  imprisonment.  And  these  same 
officials  concede,  on  pages  596,  648,  603,  and  682, 
that  the  prisons  were  loathsome  and  dangerous  to 
life,  and  so  crowded  that  the  prisoners  had  to  be 
sent  to  Forts  Delaware  and  Warren  and  Columbus 
and  Monroe,  and  that  these  distant  points  were  se- 
lected for  the  plainly  avowed  purpose  of  placing  the 
prisoners  where  their  captors  would  be  less  annoyed 
by  the  solicitations  for  their  release  by  their  friends. 
On  page  586  of  the  same  volume.  General  Banks 
formulates  the  policy  very  plainly:  ** While  I  con- 
fidently assure  the  Government  that  their  detention 
is  yet  necessary,  I  do  not  think  that  a  trial  for  any 
positive  crime  can  result  in  their  conviction.''  He 
recommends,  however,  on  page  627,  that  Mr.  Charles 
D.  Hinks  be  released  because  he  is  dying,  and  *^his 
death  in  prison  would  make  an  unpleasant  impres- 
sion." The  need  to  keep  confined  even  those  under 
slightest  suspicion  is  frequently  urged,  based  on  the 
fact  that  they  cannot  safely  be  allowed  to  reach 
home  before  the  State  election. 


152  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

It  is  curious  to  read,  at  page  622,  the  official  re- 
port that  as  many  as  nine  companies  of  Massachu- 
setts soldiers  were  sent  to  arrest  Mr.  Charles 
Howard,  and  four  companies  of  Pennsylvania  sol- 
diers to  arrest  William  H.  Gatchell,  and  seven  com- 
panies of  the  same  to  arrest  Messrs.  John  W.  Davis 
and  Charles  D.  Hinks.  Marshal  Kane  was  arrested 
by  a  like  force  in  his  bed  at  3  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing, and  *'the  police  in  the  route  were  taken  into 
custody  to  prevent  an  alarm."  His  imprisonment 
lasted  seventeen  months. 

Even  to  the  most  ^^loyaP'  Marylanders  it  must 
have  been  more  or  less  trying  to  have  these  despotic 
functions  executed  in  their  midst  by  men  from  Ver- 
mont, Massachusetts,  and  Pennsylvania,  and  the 
absolute  control  of  property  and  life  in  Maryland 
committed  to  men  from  a  distance,  like  Generals 
Scott,  Butler,  Schenck,  Banks,  Wool,  and  McClellan, 
to  ex-Governors  of  other  States,  like  Seward  and 
Chase.  General  Dix  refused  to  furnish  arms  asked 
by  Mr.  J.  Crawford  Neilson  for  protection  of  him- 
self and  neighbors  in  Hartford  county,  expressing 
a  doubt  on  which  side  the  arms  would  be  used,  and 
adding:  ** Until  a  better  feeling  prevails  the  preser- 
vation of  Maryland  to  the  Union  (and  without  her 
the  Union  could  not  exist)  cannot  safely  be  left  to 
herself.  I  trust  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  it 
may,  and  when  it  comes  my  occupation  will  be 
gone."    See  Series  I,  Vol.  V,  pp.  632-633. 

The  satraps  themselves  sometimes  gagged  at  the 
nauseous  doses  prescribed  for  them  to  swallow,  as 
when  General  Wool  explained  to  Secretary  Stanton 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  153 

why  he  declined  to  furnish  troops  called  for  by  the 
Governor  of  Maryland  to  enforce  the  draft  (Series 
III,  Vol.  2,  p.  509) :  *^If  a  State  cannot  enforce  its 
own  laws  without  United  States  soldiers,  we  may 
as  well  give  up  at  once.  ...  I  do  not  want  men 
who  are  forced  into  the  service.  We  have  now  more 
treason  in  the  army  than  we  can  well  get  along 
with."  And  he  rather  strangely  adds:  ^^This  is 
no  fiction." 

In  a  memorandum  (Series  II,  VoL  I,  p.  713)  sent 
Secretary  Seward  for  his  guidance,  by  General  Dix, 
it  is  set  against  the  names  of  some  of  the  prisoners 
that  they  *^ voted  wrong"  or  ^' voted  treasonably." 
Pendleton,  Vallandigham,  Voorhees,  and  many 
others  were  *' voting  treasonably"  in  Congress  at 
this  very  time;  but  when  the  Administration  could 
spare  time  from  Maryland  to  attend  to  Ohio  and 
Indiana,  these  gentlemen  were  gotten  out  of  the  way 
by  banishment  and  other  methods  new  in  America. 

On  page  712  of  Series  II,  Vol.  I,  I  find  that  Gen- 
eral Dix,  still  providing  against  election-day,  writes : 
*^Dr.  A.  A.  Lynch,  Senator,  might,  I  think,  be  re- 
leased, on  condition  that  he  should  resign  his  place 
in  the  Senate  and  take  the  oath.  The  Union  men 
have  a  majority  in  the  Senate,  but  it  is  now  consid- 
ered desirable  to  have  three  more."  But  he  writes, 
on  page  727,  to  Secretary  Seward:  ^*I  do  not  think 
Mr.  T.  Parkin  Scott  should  be  released,  even  if  he 
should  agree  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance.  His 
presence  here  (in  Baltimore)  would  be  very  dis- 
tasteful to  the  friends  of  the  Union,  whose  feelings 
should  be  respected."     This  tender  consideration 


154  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

for  the  feelings  of  certain  persons  is  further  illus- 
trated by  a  letter  (p.  682)  of  Simon  Cameron,  then 
Secretary  of  War:  ^^My  Dear  Seward, — In  order 
to  gratify  Johnson,  I  say  that  the  release  of  Eoss 
Winans  will  not  pain  me."  No  humble  subordi- 
nates are  acting.  We  find  the  order  of  Simon 
Cameron  himself,  as  Secretary  of  War,  to  General 
Banks  (p.  678) :  **The  passage  of  any  act  of  se- 
cession by  the  Legislature  of  Maryland  must  be 
prevented.  If  necessary,  all  or  any  part  of  the 
members  must  be  arrested."  And  the  commander- 
in-chief.  General  McClellan,  orders  General  Banks, 
page  605,  'Ho  send  detachments  of  a  sufficient  num- 
ber of  men  to  the  different  points  in  your  vicinity 
where  the  elections  are  to  be  held. ' ' 

After  we  have  learned  that  the  State  election  was 
beyond  question  held  under  certain  conditions  as 
above  described,  it  is  curious  to  read  in  a  *' draft  of 
a  proclamation  by  the  President  of  the  United 
States  found  among  the  files  of  the  State  Depart- 
ment" (Series  II,  VoL  I,  p.  617)  that  the  reason 
assigned  in  it  by  Mr.  Lincoln  for  releasing  all  the 
political  prisoners  is  the  recent  declaration  of  the 
people  of  Maryland  of  their  adhesion  to  the  Union 
so  distinctly  made  in  their  recent  election."* 

The  minute  scale  of  the  supervision  over  Mary- 
land thought  necessary  by  men  so  conspicuous  as 
Montgomery  Blair  and  the  general  commanding, 
McClellan,  is  indicated  by  the  following  letter  of 

*  See   Lincoln's  message   to    Congress  in    1861    in   Raymond's    "Life   of   Lin- 
coln."    The  election  was  a  farce. 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  155 

Blair  to  McClellan  September,  1861,'  ^^No  secession 
flag  has  to  the  knowledge  of  the  police  been  exhibited 
in  Baltimore  for  many  weeks,  except  a  small  paper 
flag  displayed  by  a  child  at  an  npper  window.  It 
was  immediately  removed  by  them."  The  large 
scale,  too,  on  which  Maryland  was  thonght  to  need 
restraint  as  late  as  June  16, 1862,  is  indicated  *  when 
General  Wool  gives  to  the  Secretary  of  War  as  one 
of  the  reasons  why  ^'a  reserve  corps,  if  practicable, 
of  50,000  men  should  be  stationed  between  Wash- 
ington and  Baltimore,  that  they  would  give  protec- 
tion and  confidence  to  the  loyal  men  of  both  these 
cities,"  and  the  same  is  urged  again  on  the  same 
by  the  same  on  page  424.  Burgess  shows  {The  Civil 
War  and  the  Constitution,  Vol.  I,  p.  204)  his  bitter 
partisanship  for  North  against  South  and  his  blind 
injustice  to  Maryland,  as  follows:  Maryland  **had 
played  a  disgraceful  part,  but  it  had  served  the 
national  interest  by  rousing  the  anger  of  the  North 
to  the  fighting  point." 

^  War    of   the    Rebellion ;    Official    Records    of    the    Union    and    Confederate 
Armies,  Series  II.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  591,  or  511, 
«  Series  I.,  Vol.  XII.,  Part  II.,  p.  397. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

DESPOTISM   IN    KENTUCKY 

BURGESS  says  {The  Civil  War  and  the  Consti- 
tution^ Vol.  I,  p.  191),  ^*It  was  the  attitude  of 
Kentucky,  however,  which,  next  to  that  of  Mary- 
land, gave  Mr.  Lincoln  the  greatest  concern." 

Ida  Tarbell  says:  *^ Moreover,  he  feared  that  the 
least  interference  with  slavery  would  drive  from 
him  those  States  lying  between  the  North  and  the 
South."  Hapgood  quotes  {Lincoln,  p.  245)  from  a 
confidential  letter  of  Lincoln's  to  his  old  friend, 
Browning,  dated  September  22,  1862,  his  words  to 
this  point.  He  says  about  his  forbidding  the  exe- 
cution of  Fremont's  emancipation  proclamation, 
**The  Kentucky  Legislature  would  not  budge — 
would  be  turned  against  us.  I  think  to  lose  Ken-r 
tucky  is  nearly  the  same  as  to  lose  the  whole  game. 
Kentucky  gone,  we  cannot  hold  Missouri,  nor,  I 
think,  Maryland.  These  all  gone,  and  the  job  on 
our  hands  is  too  large  for  us."  Ropes  says  {Story 
of  the  Civil  War,  Part  II,  p.  41),  ^^The  people  of 
Kentucky  were,  as  we  know,  very  evenly  divided  in 
sentiment,"  and  Rhodes  says  {History  of  the 
United  States,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  391):  ^^The  course  of 
public  opinion  was  very  like  that  of  Virginia  up  to 
the  parting  of  their  ways ;  and  as  most  of  the  lead- 
ers of  ability  were  with  the  South,  it  is  easy  to  see 
that  a  little  change  of  circumstances,  a  little  altera- 

156 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  157 

tion  of  the  direction  of  feeling,  might  in  the  end 
have  impelled  Kentucky  to  take  up  arms  for  the 
Confederacy  instead  of  for  the  Union.  Lincoln's 
own  knowledge  of  the  division  of  mind  in  Kentucky 
is  shown  even  better  than  above  by  the  following: 
Leslie  F.  Perry,  late  of  the  AVar  Eecord's  Board  of 
Publication,  Washington,  D.  C,  shows'  that  Lin- 
coln, July  9,  1861,  referred  the  question  whether 
Jesse  Bagley  should  be  allowed  to  raise  a  Kentucky 
regiment  by  a  letter  addressed  to  *^  Gentlemen  of  the 
Kentucky  Delegation  who  are  for  the  Union." 
Fowlke  says  {Life  of  Morton ,  Vol.  I,  p.  133,  et  seq,) 
that  Governor  Bramlette  replied  in  response  to  Lin- 
coln's call  for  soldiers,  *^  Kentucky  will  furnish  no 
troops  for  the  wicked  purpose  of  subduing  her  South- 
ern Sisters,"  that  he  convened  the  Legislature  and 
got  their  approval  of  his  answer  by  a  vote  of  eighty- 
nine  to  four."  The  following  document  pictures 
vividly  the  state  of  things  in  Kentucky.  Major 
Sidell,  Acting  Assistant  Provost  Marshal-General, 
writes '  on  13th  March,  1864,  from  Louisville,  Ken- 
tucky, to  Col.  Fry,  Provost  Marshal-General  in 
Washington,  reporting  that  Colonel  Waif  ord,  of  the 
First  Kentucky  Cavalry,  has,  in  speeches  at  Lex- 
ington and  Danville,  **  denounced  the  President  and 
his  Administration,  and  even  went  so  far  as  to 
counsel  forcible  resistance  to  the  enrollment  of 
negroes  under  the  present  act  of  Congress.  Gov- 
ernor Bramlette  was  on  the  stage  at  the  time  and 
gave  no  evidence  of  dissent  then  or  subsequently. 

^  Lippincott's  Magazine  for  February,   1902,  pp.  205,   209. 
*  War    of    the    Rebellion;    Official    Records    of    the    Union    and    Confederate 
Armies,  Serial  Number  125,  p.   174,  p.   175. 


158  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

.  .  .  Public  opinion  grows  very  fast.  Unfortu- 
nately there  is  no  really  loyal  paper  in  the  State,' 
so  that  no  means  exists  to  set  forth  loyal  views." 
On  pp.  288-9,  the  same  reports  to  the  same,  **The 
presence  of  guerillas  and  a  sympathizing  population 
and  absence  of  mounted  force  create  difficulty  in  the 
First  District.  In  four  counties  negroes  cannot  be 
enrolled,  and  their  enrollment  in  other  counties  is 
incomplete.  The  seven  counties  west  of  the  Ten- 
nessee river  .  .  .  are  the  worst."  Kentucky 
must  have  been  disloyal  indeed  when  the  approach 
of  General  Morgan's  little  force  could  cause  such  a 
report  as  the  following,  found  in  the  above-named :' 
Brigadier-General  J.  T.  Boyle  writes  Secretary 
Stanton,  July  19,  1862,  from  his  headquarters  at 
Louisville,  Kentucky,  *^The  State  is  in  imminent 
danger  of  being  overrun  by  Morgan  and  those  join- 
ing him.  If  he  should  succeed  in  a  fight  with  our 
forces  there  is  danger  of  the  uprising  of  the  traitors 
in  our  midst.  .  .  .  There  is  a  concerted  plan 
between  the  traitors  at  home  and  the  rebels  in  arms. 
Morgan's  force  has  increased.  It  is  estimated  at 
from  2,500  to  3,500.  I  do  not  believe  it  is  so  large." 
A  letter  from  the  same  to  the  same,  on  the  next 
page,  says,  **His  whole  force  does  not  exceed  1,200, 
if  that.  .  .  .  There  are  bands  of  guerillas  in 
Henderson,  Davis,  and  Webster  counties."  And 
yet  another,  on  page  749  says  ^^They  have  bands  in 
many  parts  of  this  State.  Many  of  the  best  men  in 
the  State  believe  there  is  preparation  for  a  general 

^  What  evidence  could  be  more  conclusive  of  the  attitude  of  Kentucky. 
4  Series  I.,  Vol.  XVI.,  p.  747. 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  159 

uprising.      I    believe    there    is    such    purpose    and 
plans/' 

John  Brough,  Governor  of  Ohio,  wrote,  June  9, 
1864,  to  Secretary  Stanton,'  ^*  External  raids  and 
internal  trouble  in  Indiana  and  Illinois  promise  a 
warm  summer's  work.''  The  same  wrote  the  same," 
**You  must  change  policy  in  Kentucky.  .  .  . 
Nothing  but  a  vigorous  application  of  Maryland 
policy  will  do  in  Kentucky." 

^  War    of    the    Rebellion;    Official    Records    of    the    Union    and    Confederate 
Armies,   Serial  Number   125. 

«  Same  volume,  p.   429,  June   11,   1864. 


CHAPTER  XXII 


DESPOTISM  IN  INDIANA 


FOWLKE  says  {Life  of  Morton,  Vol.  I,  p.  35), 
^ '  The  feelings  of  the  people  of  Indiana  were  not 
unfriendly  to  the  South,  nor  to  her  ^peculiar  insti- 
tution.' The  State  was  considered  'one  of  the 
outlying  provinces  of  the  empire  of  slavery.'  In 
1851  a  new  Constitution  had  been  submitted 
to  the  people,  forbidding  negroes  to  come  into 
the  State  and  punishing  those  who  employed  them. 
It  was  ratified  by  a  popular  majority  of  nearly 
ninety  thousand.  Morton  had  voted  for  it.  More- 
over he  had  always  been  opposed  to  Abolition- 
ists.'' 

Fowlke  quotes  (p.  297)  Harrison  H.  Dodd,  Grand 
Commander  of  the  Sons  of  Liberty  in  Indiana,  ad- 
dressing a  Democratic  meeting  in  Hendricks  county 
and  saying  that  ''the  real  cause  of  the  war  was  the 
breach  of  faith  by  the  North  in  not  adhering  to  the 
original  compact  of  the  States;"  .  .  .  that  "in 
twenty-three  States  we  had  governments  assisting 
the  tyrants  and  usurpers  at  Washington  to  carry  on 
a  military  depotism."  At  page  179  Fowlke  says, 
''When  the  news  came  that  Fort  Sumter  had  been 
fired  on  and  the  North  was  one  blaze  of  patriotism, 
there  were  several  centres  of  disaffection  in  Indi- 
ana where  sentiments  favorable  to  the  South  were 
freely  spoken."    Page  381  shows  that  the  order  of 

160 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  161 

the  Golden  Circle '  had  been  introduced  into  the 
Federal  camps  at  Indianapolis.  At  p.  98,  et  seq.,  of 
Vol.  I,  Fowlke  says,  **A  meeting  of  citizens  in  Can- 
nelton,  in  Perry  county,  on  the  Ohio,  resolved  that, 
.  .  .  if  a  line  was  to  be  drawn  between  the  sec- 
tions, it  must  be  drawn  north  of  Cannelton." 
Fowlke  quotes  (Vol.  I,  p.  262,  et  seq.)  the  following 
denunciation  of  Governor  Morton,  published  in  the 
Sentinel  newspaper  by  John  C.  Walker,  a  prominent 
official  just  elected  for  special  duties  by  the  Legis- 
lature: *^The  disposition  manifested  by  the  party 
in  power  to  fasten  a  despotism  upon  this  county  by 
the  destruction  of  the  ballot-box  may  yet  compel  a 
people  naturally  forbearing  and  tolerant  to  rise  in 
their  might  and  teach  our  modern  Neros  and  Calig- 
ulas  that  they  cannot  be  sustained."  Fowlke  goes 
on  (Vol.  I,  p.  175),  **But  Democratic  County  Con- 
ventions still  criticised  the  Administration  and  op- 
posed the  war.  The  convention  at  Rushville,  on 
December  28,  1861,  .  .  .  declared  that  the  Un- 
ion could  not  be  preserved  by  the  exercise  of  co- 
ercive power.''  And  Fowlke  shows  (Vol.  I,  p.  175, 
et  seq.)  that  the  action  of  the  Democratic  State 
Convention  was  dead  against  the  Administration, 
the  war,  and  emancipation,  and  quotes  (Vol.  I,  p. 
208)  a  letter  of  Governor  Morton  to  Lincoln,  of 
October  27,  1862,  as  follows :  ^*The  Democratic  poli- 
ticians of  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois  assume  that 
the  rebellion  will  not  be  crushed.''  And  the  letter 
goes  on  to  say  that  they  urge  (p,  209)  that  ^^  their 
interests  are  antagonistic  to  New  England's  and 

^  An  organization  of  which  see  more  hereafter. 


162  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

in  harmony  with  those  of  the  South,  .  .  .  that 
reasonable  terms  of  settlement  offered  by  the  South 
and  refused  had  brought  on  the  war"  Governor 
Morton  wrote  Lincoln,  October  7,  1862  (Vol.  I,  p. 
197),  * 'Another  three  months  like  the  last  six  and 
we  are  lost — lost.''  .  .  .  Fowlke  says  (p.  199), 
''The  draft  was  conducted  without  disturbance,  ex- 
cept at  Hartford  City,  in  Blackford  county,  where 
the  draft-box  was  destroyed  and  the  draft  was 
stopped,  but  on  the  third  day  after  it  was  com- 
pleted.'' Fowlke  does  not  say  by  what  force,  but 
goes  on  (Vol.  I,  p.  205,  et  seq.) :  "The  outcome  of 
the  election  was  the  choice  of  Democratic  State 
officers  and  of  a  Democratic  Legislature.  In  a  Dem- 
ocratic jubilee  at  Cambridge  City,  November  15th, 
where  Vallandigham,  Hendricks,  Jason  B.  Brown, 
H.  H.  Dodd,  Geo.  H.  Pendleton,  and  others  spoke, 
.  .  .  cheers  for  Jeff  Davis  and  curses  for  Aboli- 
tionists were  heard."  And  he  says  (p.  382),  "After 
the  election  of  1862,  the  Democratic  majorities  in 
both  Houses  of  the  General  Assembly  were  bitterly 
hostile  to  the  Administration  and  to  the  further 
prosecution  of  the  war." 

A  note  on  p.  382  tells  of  sixteen  meetings  held 
within  two  months  to  advocate  peace.  The  men 
who  thus  boldly  led  this  opposition  to  Lincoln  and 
all  his  aims,  like  Governor  Seymour,  in  New  York, 
were  not  turned  down  or  blamed  for  it  by  their  con- 
stituency when  the  war  was  over,  for  Morton  said 
in  a  speech  in  the  Senate,  20th  June,  1866  (Vol.  I, 
p.  270),  "The  leaders  who  are  now  managing  the 
Democratic  party  in  the  State  are  the  men  who,  at 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  163 

the  regular  session  of  the  Legislature  in  1861,  de- 
clared that  if  an  army  went  from  Indiana  to  assist 
in  putting  down  the  then  approaching  rebellion,  it 
must  first  pass  over  their  dead  bodies."  Fowlke 
goes  on  (Vol.  I,  p.  213)  to  describe  what  he  calls 
^^The  Peace  Legislature"  of  Indiana,  as  follows: 
**The  political  outlook  was  gloomy.  .  .  .  Peace 
at  any  price,  recognition  of  Southern  independence, 
the  formation  of  a  Northwestern  Confederacy,  had 
their  advocacy."  And  he  describes  (Vol.  I,  p.  220) 
a  demonstration  held  January  14th,  in  Shelby 
county,  at  which  **  resolutions  were  adopted  recom- 
mending a  cessation  of  hostilities,  opposing  the  con- 
scription act,  and  declaring  that  soldiers  had  been 
induced  to  enter  the  army  by  the  false  representation 
that  the  war  was  waged  solely  to  maintain  the  Con- 
stitution and  restore  the  Union."  Fowlke  quotes 
(Vol.  I,  p.  243,  et  seq.)  from  a  speech  of  Governor 
Morton  in  January  his  statement  that  General 
Grant  had  disbanded  the  109th  Illinois  regiment  for 
disloyalty,  its  officers  being  sworn  members  of  a 
disloyal  society,  one  of  the  purposes  of  which  was 
to  encourage  desertion  and  demoralize  the  army. 
Morton  says  that  the  1st,  2nd,  3rd,  and  5th  regi- 
ments had  been  similarly  demoralized,  and  an  ar- 
tillery company  had  been  destroyed,  by  this  agency. 
He  records  (p.  250)  that  Vallandigham,  who  had 
been  required  to  leave  the  country  on  account  of 
his  disloyal  utterances,  had  become  the  idol  of  the 
peace  Democrats,  and  quotes  (p.  302)  from  a  speech 
of  D.  H.  Corrick,  to  the  Democratic  Convention,  re- 
ceived with  applause,  ^^Nine  hundred  and  ninety- 


164  THE  EEAL  LINCOLN 

nine  men  out  of  every  thousand  whom  I  represent 
breathe  no  other  prayer  than  to  have  an  end  of  this 
hellish  war.  When  news  of  our  victories  come,  there 
is  no  rejoicing.  When  news  of  our  defeat  comes, 
there  is  no  sorrow."  Fowlke  says  plainly  (Vol.  I, 
p.  99)  that  the  action  of  the  State  Convention  of 
the  Democratic  party  ^  looked  like  revolution  in  the 
bosom  of  the  North."  Most  significantly  the  meet- 
ings held  for  such  purposes  were  called  *^  Union 
meetings."  To  quote  Fowlke 's  words  (p.  99),  ** Un- 
ion meetings,  as  they  were  called,  were  held  every- 
where throughout  the  State,  the  object  being  to 
propose  some  concessions  which  should  bring  the 
South  back  to  the  Union. ' '  And  Morton  telegraphed 
(p.  183)  to  the  President,  October  21st,  *^In  the 
Northwest,  distrust  and  despair  are  seizing  on  the 
hearts  of  the  people."  At  what  Fowlke  calls,  as 
above  explained,  **a  Union  meeting,"  of  18th  June, 
Morton  iSaid  that  **the  traitors  .  .  .  would  ar- 
ray the  Northwest  against  New  England.  .  .  . 
There  were  many  persons  in  Indiana  who  still  cher- 
ished this  wild  and  wicked  dream." 

Ehodes  quotes  {History  of  the  United  States,  Vol. 
IV,  p.  223)  the  following  telegram  from  Governor 
Morton  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  ^'I  am  advised 
that  it  is  contemplated  when  the  Legislature  meets 
in  this  State  to  pass  a  joint  resolution  acknowledg- 
ing the  Southern  Confederacy,  and  urging  the 
States  of  the  Northwest  to  dissolve  all  constitutional 
relations  with  the  New  England  States.  The  same 
thing  is  on  foot  in  Illinois." 

In  Illinois  resolutions  praying  for  an  armistice, 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  165 

and  recommending  a  convention  of  all  the  States 
to  agree  upon  some  adjustment  of  the  trouble  be- 
tween them,  passed  the  House,  but  failed  by  a  few 
votes  to  obtain  consideration  in  the  Senate.  Then 
Ehodes  gives  a  letter  of  Morton  to  Stanton,  taken, 
he  says,  *^from  the  War  Department  archives,"  as 
follows,  dated  January  4th,  1863:  ^^It  has  been  dis- 
covered within  the  past  two  weeks  that  the  treason- 
able political  secret  organization  having  for  its 
object  the  withdrawal  of  the  Northwestern  States 
from  the  Union,  which  exists  in  every  part  of  this 
State,  has  obtained  a  foothold  in  the  military  camps 
in  this  city."  The  War  of  the  Rebellion;  Official 
Records  of  Union  and  Confederate  Armies,  Serial 
No.  124,  p.  19,  gives  the  following  letter  of  Colonel 
Carrington,  of  the  18th  U.  S.  Infantry  to  General 
Thomas,  Adjutant-General  United  States  army, 
Washington,  from  Headquarters  Mustering  and 
Disbursing  Service,  State  of  Indiana,  Indianapolis, 
January  24,  1863:  ^*  Nearly  2,600  deserters  and 
stragglers  have  been  arrested  within  a  very  few 
weeks ;  generally  it  requires  an  armed  detail.  Most 
of  the  deserters,  true  to  the  oath  of  the  order 
(Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle),  desert  with  their 
arms,  and  in  one  case  seventeen  fortified  themselves 
in  a  log  cabin  with  outside  paling  and  ditch  for 
protection,  and  were  maintained  by  their  neigh- 
bors." On  p.  75  the  same  writes  to  the  same,  March 
19,  1863:  *^  Matters  assume  grave  import.  Two 
hundred  mounted  armed  men  in  Eush  county  have 
today  resisted  arrest  of  deserters.  Have  sent  one 
hundred  infantry  by  special  train  to  arrest  desert- 


166  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

ers  and  ringleaders.  Southern  Indiana  is  ripe  for 
revolution. ' ' 

The  War  of  the  Rebellion,  Serial  No.  125,  p.  529, 
gives  a  letter  from  E.  W.  Thompson,  Captain  and 
Provost  Marshal  at  Terre  Haute,  Indiana,  July 
20th,  1864,  to  Provost-Marshal-General  Fry  that 
reports  fighting  in  Sullivan  county  between  **  but- 
ternuts" and  soldiers,  with  one  killed  and  one 
wounded.  *^The  result  is  that  there  are  large  num- 
bers of  men  riding  about  over  the  country  armed 
and  some  of  them  shouting  for  Yallandigham  and 
Jeif  Davis,  and  professing  to  be  in  search  of  sol- 
diers. There  have  been  more  than  two  hundred  to- 
gether at  one  time  .  .  .  We  have  a  terrible 
state  of  things ;  such  as  excites  a  reasonable  appre- 
hension of  resistance  to  the  draft."     .     .     . 

Fowlke's  claim  for  Morton  is  that  (p.  254,  et  seq.) 
he  kept  Indiana  from  becoming  '  ^  an  ally  of  the  Con- 
federacy;" that  he  acted  (p.  259)  despite  the  de- 
cisions of  the  Supreme  Court.  He  says  that  when 
Morton  told  Stanton  that  Lincoln  said  he  could  find 
no  law  for  supporting  him  with  money,  Stanton 
answered,  **By  God,  I  will  find  a  law." 

Fowlke  (Life  of  Morton,  Vol.  I,  p.  115)  concedes 
that  even  in  the  ebullition  on  the  call  to  arms  only 
fear  kept  down  the  feeling  for  the  South  in  Indiana, 
and  that  the  Legislature  of  the  13th  January  (p. 
99)  .  .  .  **  repeated  in  its  small  way  the  follies 
and  weaknesses  of  Congress."  Their  follies  and 
weaknesses,  seem  to  mean  the  resistance  of  each  to 
the  Executive,  for  finally,  Fowlke  says  (Vol.  I,  p. 
98),  **  public  opinion  in  Indiana  was  an  epitome  of 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  167 

public  sentiment  in  the  Nation  at  large" — a  very 
comprehensive  concession. 

Fowlke  writes  as  late  as  1899,  and  in  eulogy,  not 
censure  of  Morton.  He  heads  a  chapter  {Life  of 
Governor  Morton,  Chapter  XXII) :  *^I  am  the 
State,"  and  begins,  ^* Morton  accomplished  what  had 
never  before  been  attempted  in  American  history. 
For  two  years  he  carried  on  the  government  of  a 
great  State  solely  by  his  own  personal  energy,  rais- 
ing money  without  taxation  on  his  own  responsibil- 
ity, and  distributing  it  through  bureaus  organized 
by  himself."  French  says  {Life  of  Morton,  p.  423) 
that  at  the  commencement  of  the  year  1863  .  .  . 
the  secret  enemies  of  the  Government  .  .  .  had 
succeeded  in  the  election  of  an  Indiana  Legislature 
which  **was  principally  composed  of  men  sworn  to 
oppose  to  the  bitter  end  the  prosecution  of  the  war, 
with  the  purpose  of  encouraging  the  enemies  of 
American  liberty  in  their  work  of  rebellion  and  de- 
struction." Nicolay  and  Hay  {Abraham  Lincoln, 
Vol.  VIII,  p.  8,  et  seq.)  confirm  the  above  account  of 
Indiana,  and  say  that  but  for  Governor  Morton  the 
Indiana  Legislature  would  have  recognized  the 
Confederacy  and  ^*  dissolved  the  federal  relation 
with  the  United  States." 

In  ''Life  and  Services  of  0.  P.  Morton,'^  on  p.  43 
— published  by  the  Indiana  Republican  Committee 
— we  find  the  following:  *^ During  the  winter  of 
1862  and  the  summer  of  1863  the  disloyal  sentiment 
(in  Indiana)  was  very  active.  County  and  local 
meetings  were  held  in  many  parts  of  the  State, 
which  declared  the  war  cruel  and  unnecessary,  de- 


168  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

nounced  President  Lincoln  as  a  tyrant  and  usurper, 
Union  soldiers  as  Lincoln's  hirelings,  etc."  .  .  . 
In  the  fall  of  1862  the  Democrats  carried  the  State, 
electing  a  Democratic  Legislature.  It  was  thor- 
oughly disloyal,  the  Democrats  having  a  majority 
of  six  in  the  Senate  and  twenty-four  in  the  House. 
The  first  thing  they  did  was  to  decline  to  receive 
Governor  Morton's  message  and  to  pass  a  joint 
resolution  tendering  thanks  to  Governor  Seymour 
of  New  York  for  the  exalted  and  patriotic  senti- 
ments contained  in  his  recent  message.  .  .  . 
They  adopted  resolutions  denouncing  arbitrary  ar- 
rests, and  declared  that  Indiana  would  not  volun- 
tarily contribute  another  man  or  another  dollar  to 
be  used  for  such  wicked,  inhuman,  and  unholy 
purposes  as  the  prosecution  of  the  war.  They  in- 
structed the  Senators  and  requested  the  Eepresenta- 
tives  in  Congress  from  Indiana  to  take  measures  to 
suspend  hostilities,  etc. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

ATTITUDE    OF    OHIO    AND    ILLINOIS 

VALLANDIGHAM'S  career  gives  much  light  on 
the  attitude  of  Ohio.  Rhodes  gives  {History  of 
the  United  States,  Vol.  IV,  p.  226,  et  seq.)  extracts 
from  his  speech  in  Congress,  14th  January,  1863, 
with  bitter  censure  of  it,  as  follows :  '  *  The  war  for 
the  Union  is  on  your  hands,  a  most  bloody  and  costly 
failure.  The  President  confessed  it  on  the  22nd 
September.  .  .  .  War  for  the  Union  was  aban- 
doned ;  war  for  the  Negro  openly  began.  ...  I 
trust  I  am  not  'discouraging  enlistments.'  If  I  am, 
then  first  arrest  Lincoln  and  Stanton  and  Halleck. 
.  .  .  But  can  you  draft  again?  .  .  .  Ask 
Massachusetts.  .  .  .  Ask  not  Ohio,  nor  the 
Northwest.  She  thought  you  were  in  earnest  and 
gave  you  all,  all — more  than  you  demanded.  .  .  . 
But  ought  this  war  to  continue  ?  I  answer.  No — not 
a  day,  not  an  hour.  What  then?  Shall  we  sepa- 
rate? Again  I  answer,  No,  no,  no!  What  then? 
.  .  .  Stop  fighting.  Make  an  armistice.  Accept 
at  once  the  friendly  foreign  mediation  and  begin 
the  work  of  reunion,  we  shall  yet  escape."  .  .  . 
After  this  daring  defiance  of  Lincoln  in  his  capital 
city,  Vallandigham  returned  to  meet  in  his  home 
the  acclaim  of  his  party. 

John  A.  Logan  records  {The  Great  Conspiracy , 
p.  557)   a  gathering  at   Springfield,  Illinois    (Lin- 

169 


170  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

coin's  home),  of  nearly  one  hundred  thousand 
VallandigJiam,  Anti-War,  Peace,  Democrats,  which 
utterly  repudiated  the  war.  See  also,  page  559,  et 
seq. 

Greneral  Burnside  was  in  command  of  the  three 
States,  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois,  excluding  from 
circulation  such  papers  as  the  Neiv  York  Herald; 
suppressing  the  Chicago  Times,  and  this  in  a 
region — as  Ehodes  describes  it  (Vol.  IV,  p.  252) 
— **  where  there  was  no  war — where  the  courts 
were  open — where  the  people  were  living  under 
the  American  Constitution  and  English  law." 
Ehodes  says  (p.  246,  et  seq,)  that  Burnside  began 
*  literally  to  breathe  out  threatenings,  .  .  . 
denouncing  the  penalty  of  death  for  certain  offen- 
ses." 

The  story  is  too  long  as  Rhodes  tells  it  (Vol.  IV, 
p.  247):  Two  of  Burnside 's  captains,  in  citizen's 
clothes,^  were  sent  to  hear  Vallandigham's  speech  at 
Mount  Vernon,  Ohio.  The  officers  broke  into  his 
house  at  2  A.  M.,  and  took  him  before  a  military 
commission  for  trial.  The  whole  mode  of  procedure 
and  the  sentence  to  *^  close  confinement  during  the 
continuance  of  the  war"  provoked  such  wide  and 
bitter  criticism  and  resentment  that  Lincoln  com- 
muted the  sentence  to  banishment — a  penalty  not 
before  known  to  the  country,  and  ^^not  for  deeds 
done,  but  for  words  spoken,"  to  use  the  language 
in  which  it  was  denounced  by  John  Sherman,  and 
these  were  words  that  had  been  spoken  in  public 

*  Officers   in   the    service   of    the    United    States   very  rarely  laid    aside   their 
Uniform  as  is  so   constantly  done  now. 


THE  KEAL  LINCOLN  171 

debate  and  received  with  wild  applause  by  thou- 
sands of  his  constituents.' 

Dr.  Holland  tells,  too,  of  the  bitter  reprobation 
this  provoked  in  New  York.  Nicolay  and  Hay  tell 
{Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  VII,  p.  328)  very  nearly  the 
same  story  about  Vallandigham  and  the  resentment 
in  New  York  (p.  341)  at  Lincoln's  treatment  of 
Vallandigham.  Ehodes  labors  to  defend  the  ban- 
ishment and  two  long  papers  issued  by  Lincoln  in 
defense  of  his  course,  but  is  reduced  to  the  strait  of 
reciting  as  one  argument  in  justification  of  the 
conviction  that  *4t  was  known  no  jury  would  con- 
vict." But  at  last  he  has  to  say  (p.  248,  et  seq.)y 
**From  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  these  proceed- 
ings law  and  justice  were  set  at  naught;''  .  .  . 
that  the  **  President  should  have  rescinded  the  sen- 
tence and  released  Vallandigham;"  .  .  .  that 
**we  may  wish  that  the  occasion  had  not  arisen;" 
.  .  .  that  (p.  251)  ^'a  large  portion  of  the  Repub- 
lican press  of  the  East  condemned  Vallandigham 's 
arrest  and  the  tribunal  before  which  he  was  ar- 
raigned." He  quotes  heavy  censure  of  it  by  Jus- 
tice David  Davis,  Lincoln's  intimate  friend,  recorded 
in  the  Milligan  case,  ending  his  warning  of  the  dan- 
ger of  such  a  precedent  with  the  words,  *^The 
dangers  to  human  liberty  are  frightful  to  contem- 
plate."' 


2  John  Sherman's  Recollections,  Vol.  I.,  p.  323,  and  Holland's  Ahraham 
Lincoln,  p.  471,  et  seq. 

^  N.  B. — ^What  a  political  opponent,  Col.  A.  K.  McClure,  says  of  Val- 
landigham in  his  Recollections  of  Half  a  Century,  copyright,  1902,  p.  231; 
"There  was  not  a  single  blemish  on  his  public  or  private  life  until  he  be- 
came  involved — insensibly    involved — in   violent    hostility    to    the    Government." 


172  THE  KEAL  LINCOLN 

Ehodes  says  (VoL  IV,  p.  252)  that  *Hhe  nomina- 
tion for  Governor  now  came  to  Vallandigham  spon- 
taneously and  with  almost  the  nnanimous  voice  of 
an  earnest  and  enthusiastic  convention;"  .  .  . 
that  **the  issue  had  come  to  be  Vallandigham  or 
Lincoln, '*  and  Rhodes  quotes  John  Sherman  as  fol- 
lows: **The  canvass  in  Ohio  is  substantially  be- 
tween the  Government  and  the  Rebellion. ' '  Rhodes 
says  (p.  412),  *^ Lincoln  was  termed  a  usurper  and 
a  despot;"  .  .  .  and  (p.  414)  .  .  .  the  Val- 
landigham meetings  were  such  impressive  outpour- 
ings of  the  people,"  .  .  .  while  .  .  .  *'the 
Republican  meetings  fell  short  probably  in  num- 
bers of  those  who  gathered  out  of  warm  sympathy 
with  the  cause  of  Vallandigham." 

To  many  it  is  a  new  and  strange  idea  that  there 
was  any  strong  leaning  to  the  South  in  Ohio,  but  a 
book  notice  in  the  New  York  World  of  June  15, 
1901,  refers,  as  to  a  familiar  theme,  to  *^the  story 
of  Cincinnati  in  the  time  of  those  September  days 
when  the  city  was  the  centre  of  a  Confederate  plot, 
participated  in  by  outsiders  and  insiders;  .  .  . 
that  by  the  dividing  line  of  the  causes  brother  is  set 
against  brother."  The  evidence  of  a  loyal  Gover- 
nor seems  conclusive. 

In  The  War  of  the  Rebellion,  Serial  No.  125,  p. 
599,  John  Brough,  Governor  of  Ohio,  writes  Secre- 
tary Stanton,  August  9,  1864,  *^  Recruiting  pro- 
gresses slowly.  There  will  be  a  heavy  draft,  and 
strong  organizations  are  making  to  resist  its  en- 
forcement. There  is  no  sensational  alarm  in  this. 
Force,  and  a  good  deal  of  it,  will  be  required  to 


THE  KEAL  LINCOLN  173 

overawe  the  resistance  party.  .  .  .  What  is 
your  view  in  regard  to  it?  There  must  be  not  less 
than  10,000  to  15,000  men  under  arms  in  Ohio  in 
September  if  the  draft  is  to  be  enforced.''  We 
have,  besides,  the  testimony  of  General  Grant  {Per- 
sonal Memoir,  p.  24  and  p.  35):  *' Georgetown, 
•  .  .  county  seat  of  Brown  county,  ...  is, 
and  has  been  from  its  earliest  existence  a  Demo- 
cratic town.  There  was  probably  no  time  during 
the  rebellion  when,  if  the  opportunity  could  have 
been  afforded,  it  would  not  have  voted  for  Jefferson 
Davis  for  President  of  the  United  States  over  Mr. 
Lincoln  or  any  other  representative  of  his  party, 
unless  it  was  just  after  Morgan's  raid.  .  .  . 
There  were  (p.  36)  churches  in  that  part  of  Ohio 
where  treason  was  regularly  preached,  and  where, 
to  secure  membership,  hostility  to  the  Government, 
to  the  war,  and  to  the  liberation  of  slaves  was  far 
more  essential  than  a  belief  in  the  authenticity  or 
credibility  of  the  Bible." 

Part  of  what  has  been  shown  about  the  attitude 
of  Indiana  and  Ohio  was  shown  to  be  true  about 
Illinois,  too.  Dr.  Holland  says  {Abraham  Lincoln, 
p.  67)  that  in  1830  the  ^^ prevailing  sentiment"  of 
Illinois  was  *4n  favor  of  slavery."  Nicolay  and 
Hay  quote  {Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  I,  pp.  140  and 
141)  pro-slavery  action  of  the  Legislature  of  Illi- 
nois, 3rd  March,  1837,  saying  that  Congress  had  no 
power  to  interfere  with  slavery  except  in  the  Dis- 
trict, and  not  there  unless  at  the  request  of  the 
people  of  the  District.  Nicolay  and  Hay  show  at 
some  length  (Vol.  I,  p.  143,  et  seq.)  a  very  nearly 


174  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

successful  effort  made  by  the  Illinois  Legislature  in 
1822-3  *Ho  open  the  State  to  slavery/'  and  say  that 
**the  apologists  of  slavery,  beaten  in  the  canvass, 
were  more  successful  in  the  field  of  public  opinion. 
In  the  reaction  which  succeeded  the  triumph  of  the 
anti-slavery  party  it  seemed  as  if  there  had  never 
been  any  anti-slavery  sentiment." 

Fowlke  gives  {Life  of  Oliver  P.  Morton,  Vol.  I,  p. 
229  and  p.  230)  numerous  resolutions  offered  and 
some  resolutions  passed,  in  the  Illinois  General  As- 
sembly, in  January,  1863,  against  emancipation 
.  .  .  and  against  the  conscription.  Ida  Tarbell 
says*  that  **aniong  the  things  that  told  Lincoln  the 
seriousness  of  the  situation,  before  he  took  his  seat, 
.  .  .  was  the  averted  faces  of  his  townsmen  of 
Southern  sympathies." 

It  has  been  shown  how  Chicago  resented  and  suc- 
cessfully resisted  the  suppression  of  the  Chicago 
Times,  a  paper  about  which  Rhodes  quotes  (Vol. 
IV,  p.  253,  note)  from  a  Provost  Marshal's  report, 
**It  would  not  have  needed  to  change  its  course  an 
atom  if  its  place  of  publication  had  been  Richmond 
or  Charleston  instead  of  Chicago." 

Governor  Yates,  of  Illinois,  wrote  Secretary  Stan- 
ton," '^I  have  the  best  reasons  for  believing  that  a 
draft  if  made  will  be  resisted  in  this  State,"  and 
asks  arms  for  10,000  infantry  and  five  batteries  of 
artillery  to  put  it  down.  And  again  the  same  wrote 
the  same  (Serial  No.  125,  p.  558),  *^I  must  have  a 
district  commander  for  this  State.    A  large  portion 

*  McClure's  Magazine  for  1899,  p.  167. 

^  War  of  the  Rebellion,  Serial  No.   124,  p.   627,  August  5,   1863. 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  175 

of  my  time  is  consumed  by  appeals  to  put  down  dis- 
loyal desperadoes,  against  whom  the  courts  have 
no  protection.  Numbers  of  men  are  now  here 
driven  from  their  homes  by  an  armed  force  of  150 
men  in  Fayette  county. ' '  And  a  third  time  the  same 
wires  the  same,  March  2nd,  1864  (Serial  No.  148), 
*^  Insurrection  in  Edgar  county,  Illinois.  Union  men 
on  one  side,  Copperheads  on  the  other.  They  have 
had  two  battles ;  several  killed.  Please  order  .  .  . 
two  companies  ...  to  put  down  the  disturb- 
ance."   .     .     . 

D.  L.  Phillips,  United  States  Marshal,  writes  Sec- 
retary Seward,  February  22,  1862  (Series  II,  Vol. 
II,  p.  241) :  .  .  .  ''1  think  that  the  disloyal  in 
our  State  feel  that  they  are  completely  at  my  mercy 
unless;"  .  .  .  and  again,  .  .  .  **It  is  now 
well  understood  that  nothing  but  the  restraining 
fear  of  the  marshal's  office  has  kept  from  deeds  of 
violence  a  gTeat  many  men  in  the  Ohio  and  Wabash 
river  counties  of  Illinois." 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

ATTITUDE  OF   PENNSYLVANIA  AND  NEW  YORK 

JOHN  A.  LOGAN  {The  Great  Conspiracy,  p.  108, 
note)  describes  ^4ii  Philadelphia,  December  13, 
1860,  a  great  meeting  held  at  the  call  of  the  Mayor 
in  Independence  Square,"  .  .  .  which  offered 
the  most  complete  submission  to  the  demands  of  the 
South.  Greeley  quotes  {American  Conflict,  Vol  I, 
p.  428)  from  the  Philadelphia  Pennsylvanian,  com- 
menting on  Lincoln's  Inaugural,  as  follows:  *^Let 
the  Border  States  submit  ignominiously  to  the  abo- 
lition rule  of  this  Lincoln  Administration  if  they 
like,  but  don't  let  the  miserable  submissionists  pre- 
tend to  be  deceived.  Make  any  cowardly  excuse  but 
this."  Allen's  Life,  Sc,  of  Phillips  Brooks  tells 
(Vol.  I,  p.  448)  of  Philadelphia's  .  .  .  '^avowed 
hostility  towards  the  Government  in  its  prosecution 
of  the  war.  That  such  sentiments  towards  Lincoln 
and  his  Administration  did  exist  in  Philadelphia  is 
evident,  but  it  should  also  be  said  that  the  same 
apathy  or  hostility  might  be  found  in  the  Northern 
cities,  in  New  York  and  in  Boston."  On  the  same 
page  Brooks  writes,  in  a  letter,  deploring  that  he 
found  in  Jersey  an  opposition  that  ^*made  the  State 
disgraceful."  A  deliberate  refusal  of  a  large  mass 
of  organized  soldiers  to  advance,  in  the  midst  of 
the  war,  is  as  conclusive  proof  of  their  *^ disloyalty" 

176 


THE  EEAL  LINCOLN  177 

as  can  be  conceived,  yet  four  thousand  Pennsyl- 
vanians  took  that  desperate  stand,  as  the  following 
shows :  A  letter '  of  September  18,  1862,  from  Hag- 
erstown  to  Major-General  H.  W.  Halleck,  General 
in  Chief,  signed  by  I.  Vogdes,  Major,  says,  **A  large 
portion  of  the  Pennsylvania  Militia,  now  here,  have 
declined  to  move  forward  as  requested  by  General 
McClellan.  .  .  .  About  2,500  have  gone,  but  the 
10th,  11th,  12th,  13th,  and  15th,  numbering  about 
800  each,  declined  to  proceed.  The  14th  has  not 
finally  decided  whether  to  go  or  not.  Governor 
Curtin  has  just  arrived,  and  may  induce  the  troops 
to  advance."  In  the  same  volume,  p.  629,  is  shown 
the  daring  resistance  of  the  Pennsylvanians  to  the 
draft.  Major-General  D.  N.  Couch  writes  Provost- 
Marshal-General  J.  B.  Fry,  August  5th,  1863,  ''1 
have  two  regiments  and  a  battery  at  East  Potts- 
rille  and  Scranton  and  vicinity.  My  idea  is  that 
the  enrollment  can  be  completed  with  present  force. 
i'  think  it  should  be  increased  when  the  drafted  men 
are  taken."  In  the  same  volume,  at  pp.  321,  324, 
and  325,  are  reports  of  Provost  Marshals  to  their 
Chief  in  Washington  of  forcible  resistance  to  the 
draft,  .  .  .  and  of  all  refusing  to  be  enrollers, 
in  the  year  1863.  In  the  same  great  Eecord  (Series 
III,  Vol.  II,  p.  735)  the  Adjutant-General  of  Penn- 
sylvania wrote  Secretary  Stanton:  ^^Of  the  draft 
in  this  State  about  one-fourth  has  not  been  delivered, 
and  the  State  is  powerless  to  deliver  them.  .  .  . 
Of  those  delivered     .     .     .     very  many  are  totally 

^War    of    the    Rebellion;    Official    Records    of    the    Union    and    Confederate 
Armies,  Series  I.,  Vol.  XIX.,  Part  II.,  p.  329,  of  September  18,   1862. 


178  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

unfit  for  service/'  The  Adjutant-General  would 
seem  final  authority  in  the  matter,  and  it  must  have 
been  the  will  of  the  people  of  the  State  that  made 
the  State  ^* powerless.''  But  see  further  confirma- 
tion. Capt.  Eichard  I.  Dodge,  Acting  Assistant 
Provost-Marshal-General,  writes  (Serial  No.  125) 
to  General  Fry,  Provost-Marshal-General,  August 
10,  1864:  **In  several  counties  of  the  Western  Di- 
vision of  Pennsylvania,  particularly  in  Columbia 
and  Cambria,  I  am  credibly  informed  that  there  are 
large  bands  of  deserters  and  delinquent  drafted 
men  banded  together,  armed  and  organized  for  re- 
sistance to  the  United  States  authorities.  The  or- 
ganization in  Columbia  county  alone  numbers  about 
500  men;  in  Cambria  it  is  said  to  be  larger.  These 
men  are  encouraged  in  their  course  and  assisted  by 
every  means  by  the  political  opponents  of  the  Ad- 
ministration. .  .  .  The  Union  men  are  over- 
awed by  the  organized  power  of  the  malcontents, 
while  many  who  have  heretofore  been  supporters 
of  the  policy  of  the  Goverment,  preferring  their 
comfort  to  their  principles,  are  going  over  to  its 
enemies.  Several  deputations  and  committees  have 
called  upon  me,  representing  these  facts  in  the 
strongest  light."  General  Whipple  reports,""  Aug- 
ust 9,  1863,  the  need  of  more  soldiers  for  the  draft 
in  Schuylkill  county,  Pennsylvania,  and  describes 
how  a  force  of  about  3,000  was  intimidated  from 
attacking  the  47th  Pennsylvania  Militia  at  Miners- 
ville  *^by  the  opportune  arrival  of  a  re-enforcement 

2  War   of   the   Rebellion,   dc.    Serial    No.    124.      For    the   later    volumes   the 
serial  number  suffices. 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  179 

of  a  battery  of  field  artillery  and  four  companies 
of  infantry. '^ 

These  are  no  irresponsible  sources  of  informa- 
tion. See  next  the  evidence  of  the  Governor  of 
Pennsylvania.  He  wrote '  to  Stanton,  Secretary  of 
War,  October  23,  1862,  that  ^^the  organization  to 
resist  the  draft  in  Schuylkill,  Luzerne,  and  Carbon 
counties  is  very  formidable.  There  are  several 
thousand  in  arms  and  the  people  who  will  not  join 
have  been  driven  from  the  county.  They  will  not 
permit  the  drafted  men,  who  are  willing,  to  leave, 
and  yesterday  forced  them  to  get  out  of  the  cars. 
I  wish  to  crush  the  resistance  so  effectually  that  the 
like  will  not  occur  again.  One  thousand  regulars 
would  be  most  efficient."  His  need  for  *' regulars" 
is  explained  on  the  next  page  by  the  answer  of  Gen. 
Jno.  E.  "Wool  to  General  Halleck's  order  to  help 
Governor  Curtin,  that  the  108th  New  York  Volun- 
teers have  killed  an  engineer  and  are  threatening 
*^ other  injuries  to  passing  trains,"  so  that  he  had 
removed  it  from  the  Relay  House  to  Washington, 
** where  it  would  do  no  harm." 

As  to  New  York  city,  it  has  ever  since  been  made 
a  reproach  to  it  by  Eepublicans  that  Mayor  Wood 
proposed,  before  the  war  began,  that  the  city  of 
New  York  should  announce  herself  an  independent 
republic,  rather  than  side  with  the  President.  Even 
soldiers  of  New  York  State  who  had  volunteered 
were  ''disloyal."  Gen.  B.  F.  Butler's  farewell  to 
his  command  at  Fort  Monroe,  Virginia,  of  August 

«  War  of  the  Rebellion,  dc,  Series  I.,  Vol.  XIX.,   Part  II.,  p.  493. 


180  THE  KEAL  LINCOLN 

18,  1861,  gives  *  curiously  qualified  commendation 
*Ho  the  men  and  a  large  portion  of  the  officers  of 
the  20th  New  York  Volunteers,  and  to  the  officers 
and  true  men  of  the  1st  New  York  Volunteers,  who 
have  withstood  the  misrepresentation  of  news- 
papers, the  appeals  of  partisans  and  politicians,  and 
the  ill-judged  advice  of  friends  at  home,  .  .  . 
and  remained  loyal  to  the  flag  of  their  country. 
Very  great  credit  is  due  them.'' 

Dr.  E.  Benjamin  Andrews  tells  us  {History  of  the 
United  States,  Vol.  II,  p.  65,  et  seq.),  ^*A  Demo- 
cratic Convention  met  at  Albany  in  January,  1861, 
to  protest  against  forcible  measures.  The  senti- 
ment that  if  force  were  to  be  used  it  should  be 
inaugurated  at  home,'  here  evoked  hearty  re- 
sponse. There  were  signs  of  even  a  deeper  dis- 
affection."   .    .    . 

Governor  Horatio  Seymour  had  been  among  the 
foremost  to  avow  when  the  first  States  seceded  that 
the  South  had  suffered  wrongs  that  justified  her 
secession,  and  to  protest  that  States  should  not  be 
pinned  to  the  Union  with  bayonets.  He  had  enor- 
mous backing,  as  is  shown  abov^,  and  will  be  fur- 
ther shown,  in  his  opposition  as  Governor  to  the 
war  and  to  emancipation,  persisted  in  to  the  end 
so  far  as  was  at  all  possible. 

General  Dix  showed  himself  well  informed  about 
New  York  city,  whence  he  wrote  Secretary  Stanton  * 
in  words  that  proved  minutely  prophetic:  ** Neither 

^  War  of  the  Rebellion;  Official  Records  of  the  Union  and  Confederate 
Armies,   Series   I.,   Vol.   V.,   p.   601. 

^  War  of  the  Rebellion;  Official  Records  of  the  Union  and  Confederate 
Armies,   Serial  No.   125,  p.   625. 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  181 

the  State  nor  the  city  authorities  can  be  counted  on 
for  any  aid  in  enforcing  the  draft,  and,  while  I  im- 
pute no  such  designs  to  them,  there  are  men  in 
constant  communication  with  them  who,  I  am  satis- 
fied, desire  nothing  so  much  as  a  collision  between 
the  State  and  General  Governments  and  an  insur- 
rection in  the  North  in  aid  of  the  Southern  rebel- 
lion." Again  General  Dix  wrote,  for  himself. 
General  Canby,  and  the  Mayor  (Serial  No.  124,  p. 
671),  ^^We  are  of  opinion  that  the  draft  can  be 
safely  commenced  in  New  York  on  Monday  with  a 
sufficient  force,  but  there  ought  to  be  10,000  troops 
in  the  city  and  harbor.  There  is  little  doubt  that 
Governor  Seymour  will  do  all  in  his  power  to  de- 
feat the  draft  short  of  forcible  resistance  to  it." 

Schouler  makes  the  comprehensive  concession 
{History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  VI,  p.  417,  et 
seq.)  that  the  State  of  New  York  was  ^^obstructive 
to  the  President's  wishes" — a  mode  of  expression 
which  is  significant — and  records  that  Seymour  said 
in  his  Inaugural  as  Governor  that  *Hhe  conscrip- 
tion act  was  believed  by  one-half  the  people  of  the 
loyal  States  a  violation  of  the  supreme  constitu- 
tional law."  For  Seymour's  view  of  the  purpose 
for  which  that  act  was  procured,  see  Nicolay  and 
Hay,  who  record  {Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  VII,  p.  22 
and  p.  25)  that  both  Governor  Seymour  and  Arch- 
bishop Hughes  not  only  made  friendly  addresses  to 
the  mob  that  was  forcibly  stopping  the  draft  in 
New  York  city,  but  manifested  a  measure  of  sym- 
pathy with  its  purpose ;  that  Seymour  in  his  address 
called  the  war   (p.  16,  et  seq.)   *Hhe  ungodly  con- 


182  THE  KEAL  LINCOLN 

flict  that  is  distracting  the  land/'  and  said  that 
the  purpose  of  the  draft  was  ^'to  stuff  ballot-boxes 
with  bogus  soldier  votes."  Yet  they  concede  that, 
in  spite  of  all  this,  Seymour  was  (pp.  9  to  26)  ^^then 
and  to  his  death  the  most  honored  Democratic  poli- 
tician in  the  State.''  And  this  is  shown  beyond  all 
question  by  the  fact  that  after  the  war  was  over  he 
was  selected  by  the  National  Democratic  party  as 
its  candidate  for  the  presidency.  They  also  attest 
unstintedly  (Vol.  VII,  p.  13)  Seymour's  integrity 
and  patriotism. 

It  was  just  at  the  time  when  the  great  fight  came 
on  at  Gettysburg  that  the  people  of  the  city  of  New 
York  rose  and  defied  the  Federal  Government — 
keeping  control  for  four  days.  It  was  a  mob,  but 
they  had  evidence,  as  shown  above,  of  sympathy 
from  the  Governor  and  the  Catholic  Archbishop, 
and  they  accomplished  their  purpose  of  stopping 
the  draft,  until  a  month  later  veterans  were  brought 
from  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  and  New  York  was 
made  ^HranquiL"  Gorham,  the  latest  biographer 
of  Secretary  Stanton,  says  that  had  Gettysburg  re- 
sulted differently  New  York  would  have  made  no 
submission. 

Ehodes  {History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  IV,  p. 
320  to  p.  328)  gives  particulars  of  the  struggle, 
**with  a  loss  in  killed  and  wounded  of  one  thousand, 
most  of  whom  were  of  the  mob."  He  says  (p.  327) 
that  the  Provost  Marshal  ^4n  charge  of  the  draft 
in  New  York, ' '  Eobert  Nugent,  wrote  ^ '  a  notice  over 
his  own  name,"  saying  *^The  draft  has  been  sus- 
pended in  New  York  city  and  Brooklyn,"  that  this 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  183 

notice  ^^  appeared  in  nearly  all  the  newspapers,  and 
undoubtedly  was  the  cause  of  the  rioters  returning 
to  their  homes  and  employments.  The  militia  regi- 
ments which  had  been  sent  to  Pennsylvania  began 
to  arrive  and  used  harsh  measures  to  repress  the 
mobs,  who  still  with  rash  boldness  confronted  the 
lawful  powers.  Cannon  and  howitzers  raked  the 
streets.  .  .  .  More  regiments  .  .  .  reached 
the  city  and  continued  without  abatement  the  stern 
work.  .  .  .  The  draft  was  only  temporarily  sus- 
pended. Strenuous  precautions  were  taken  to  in- 
sure order  during  its  continuance.  Ten  thousand 
infantry  and  three  batteries  of  artillery — *  picked 
troops,  including  the  regulars' — ^were  sent  to  New 
York  city  from  the  Army  of  the  Potomac."  Of 
course  the  example  made  of  New  York  told  else- 
where. Ehodes  says  {History  of  the  United  States, 
Vol.  IV,  p.  328,  note),  ^^ Riots  in  resistance  to  the 
draft  broke  out  in  Boston  and  in  Troy,  but  were 
speedily  suppressed.''  The  temper  of  the  people 
of  the  interior  of  the  State  and  the  methods  used 
for  repressing  it  are  shown  in  the  following :  W.  A. 
Dart,^  after  procuring  from  the  Postmaster-General 
the  exclusion  from  the  mails  of  the  Gazette  of 
Franklin  county.  New  York,  got  the  two  editors, 
the  Franklin  brothers,  imprisoned  in  Fort  Lafay- 
ette by  Secretary  Seward.  One  of  them  had  been 
a  judge  and  member  of  the  Constitutional  Conven- 
tion. They  had  found  readers  and  listeners  in  their 
work,  **  proving  to  the  people  of  Franklin  county, 
through  the  columns  of  the  Gazette  by  letter  and  in 

*War  of  the  Rebellion,  dc.  Series  II.,  Vol.  II.,  p.  941. 


184  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

public  speeches  at  meetings  called  for  that  purpose, 
that  the  Southern  States  had  a  right  to  secede  and 
that  the  prosecution  of  the  war  on  the  part  of  the 
North  was  aggressive  and  wrong,  and  that  the 
South  was  really  occupying  the  position  now  that 
the  original  States  did  in  the  war  of  the  Revolu- 
tion," Dart  further  writes  Seward  '^that  whole 
county  has  raised  but  one  company  of  volunteers 
for  the  war,  and  in  several  of  the  towns  nearly  as 
many  persons  could  be  enlisted  for  the  Southern 
Confederacy  as  could  be  for  the  United  States." 


CHAPTER  XXV 

ATTITUDE  OF  IOWA  AND  OTHER  STATES 

THE  case  of  Wm.  H.  Hill'  gives  evidence  of  the 
feeling  of  the  people  of  Iowa  between  December, 
1861,  and  April,  1862,  as  to  the  guilt  of  Southern 
sympathizers,  and  as  to  the  Government's  mode  of 
repressing  such  sympathy,  as  follows :  United 
States  Marshal  Hoxie  and  Governor  Kirkwood  re- 
port (p.  1322-1324)  to  Secretary  Seward  clear  proof 
of  Hiirs  guilt,  but  say  that  he  will  be  cleared  by  the 
jury,  who  are  *4n  sympathy  with  the  rebels."  Se- 
ward (p.  1325)  has  him  arrested  and  confined  in 
Fort  Lafayette  '^as  soon  as  he  is  discharged  from 
civil  custody."  Hoxie  complains  to  Seward  (p. 
1327)  that  the  Davenport  Democrat  and  News  is  re- 
porting to  its  Iowa  readers  **the  movement  of  the 
scoundrel  Hoxie  and  his  kidnapped  prisoner,  Hill." 
The  whole  Iowa  delegation.  Senate  (p.  1331)  and 
House  (1337),  urge  Hill's  release,  and  he  is  released, 
but  on  condition  (p.  1339)  that  he  withdraw  his 
prosecution  of  Hoxie,  which  would  have  to  be  tried 
before  an  Iowa  jury.  General  Halleck,  command- 
ing in  Iowa,  writes  Hoxie  (p.  1334) :  **I  permit  the 
newspapers  to  abuse  me  to  their  heart's  content,  and 
I  advise  you  to  do  the  same." 

H.  M.  Hoxie,  United  States  Marshal  of  the  Dis- 

*  War    of    the    Rebellion;    Offi^cial    Records    of    the    Union    and    Confederate 
Armies,  Series  II.,  Vol.  II.,  p.   1321  to  p.   1339. 

185 


186  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

trict  of  Iowa,  writes  Secretary  Seward  in  December, 
1861  (Series  II,  Vol.  II,  p.  1322),  ^^The  accused  will 
not  be  found  guilty,  though  of  his  guilt  there  can 
be  no  question.  There  is  a  large  secession  element 
in  the  jury  selected  to  try  him.  ...  It  would  be 
better  for  the  government  to  enter  a  nolle  and  have 
him  committed  to  military  custody  by  order  of  the 
State  Department."  About  the  same  man,  Wm.  M. 
Hill,  the  Governor  of  Iowa,  Kirkwood,  writes  Secre- 
tary Seward  (p.  1324)  that  ^^a  conviction  would  be 
at  least  doubtful"  and  that  he  ** would  suggest  that 
Hill  be  removed  from  the  State  by  your  order  and 
imprisoned  elsewhere  under  military  authority." 

From  Fairfield,  Iowa,  July  28,  1862,  James  F. 
Wilson,  as  inspector,  reports  to  Secretary  Stanton ' 
that  *^Men  in  this  and  surrounding  counties  are 
daily  in  the  habit  of  denouncing  the  Government,  the 
war,  and  all  engaged  in  it,  and  are  doing  all  they 
can  to  prevent  enlistments;"  and  gives  as  an  in- 
stance an  account  of  how  a  wounded  officer  was 
driven  out  of  Eome,  in  Henry  county,  from  his  busi- 
ness of  recruiting,  by  threats  of  hanging.  A  year 
later  the  Governor  of  Iowa,  Kirkwood,  forwards  to 
the  Secretary  of  War  a  complaint  of  J.  B.  Grinnell, 
who  calls  himself  ^*a  war  candidate  for  Congress" 
that  *' secret  societies  are  being  organized  to  defy 
the  draft  and  the  collection  of  taxes.  The  traitors 
are  armed.  Our  soldiers  are  defenseless.  We  want 
And  Governor  Stone,  of  Iowa,  says,'  as 


2  War    of    the    Rebellion;    Official    Records    of    the    Union    and    Confederate 
Armies,  Series  III.,  Vol.  II.,  p.  265  and  p.  403. 

3  War  of  the  Rebellion,  &c..  Serial  No.  125. 


THE  EEAL  LINCOLN  187 

late  as  May  11,  1864,  of  several  counties  and  town- 
ships that  they  are  ^* Copperheads.'' 

The  Governor  of  Wisconsin  forwards  and  en- 
dorses a  letter*  dated  August,  1864,  showing  scan- 
dalous fleeing  from  the  draft  in  Wisconsin  and  Min- 
nesota, and  military  preparation  to  resist  the  draft 
in  Wisconsin.  At  p.  1010  of  the  same,  he  asks  from 
Washington  aid  to  stop  the  escape  of  his  people  from 
the  draft,  and  says  to  Secretary  Stanton  in  January, 
1865,  that  '*The  Government  must  depend  mainly 
upon  recruiting  for  its  soldiers.  Out  of  17,000 
drafted  in  this  State  during  the  last  year,  I  am  in- 
formed that  but  about  3,000  are  in  the  service.'' 

Major  General  Pope,  assigned  to  the  control  of 
Wisconsin  after  his  terrible  failure  as  Commander 
of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  wrote  August,  1863,* 
to  Washington  in  much  detail,  about  the  resistance 
to  the  draft  in  Wisconsin,  and  (p.  639  of  same  vol- 
ume) Secretary  Stanton  gives  him  '^six  companies 
of  the  Seventh  Cavalry,  temporarily  to  preserve  the 
peace  within  your  State." 

Even  in  Connecticut,  D.  D.  Perkins,  Acting  As- 
sisting Provost  Marshal  reports"  from  Hartford, 
May  18,  1863,  that  Governor  Buckingham  **  hoped 
there  would  be  no  difficulty  in  completing  the  draft, 
but  that  if  there  was  to  be  any  difficulty  at  all,  it 
might  as  well  be  here  as  anywhere."  And  Fred  H. 
Thompson,  Deputy  Collector,  writes  Secretary  Se- 
ward' from  Bridgeport,  Connecticut,  in  January, 

•  Same  volume  last  quoted,  p.  683. 

•  War  of  the  Rebellion,  dc,  Serial  No.  124,  p.   637  and  p.   638. 

•  War  of  the  Rebellion,  dc.  Serial  No.  124. 

'  War  of  the  Rebellion,  dc.  Series  II.,  Vol.  II.,  p.  1934. 


188  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

1862,  ^^This  city  is  the  focus  and  centre  of  tlie  se- 
cession sympathizers  in  this  portion  of  Connecti- 
cut, ' '  and  that  it  has  ^  *  a  lodge  of  the  Knights  of  the 
Golden  Circle."  The  New  York  Churchman  said" 
August  5,  1899:  **At  the  breaking  out  of  our  late 
civil  war  there  was  in  the  Western  part  of  Connecti- 
cut, and  extending  into  the  adjoining  counties  of 
New  York,  an  ugly  feeling  of  discontent  against 
what  seemed  to  be  the  policy  of  Mr.  Lincoln  towards 
the  rebelling  States." 

General  John  A.  Dix  reported  to  Provost-Mar- 
shal-General Fry,'  his  sending  soldiers  to  Oswego 
and  Oneida,  and  two  hundred  to  Schenectady,  and 
that  there  was  no  resistance.  He  goes  on,  **In  the 
river  districts,  troops  will  be  needed.  ...  In 
Albany  and  Ulster  districts,  I  think  artillery  as  well 
as  infantry  will  be  needed    .     .     ." 

Nicolay  and  Hay  (Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  YI,  p. 
217)  record  ''deep  seated  disaffection"  in  New  Jer- 
sey, shown  by  legislation  and  elsewise.  Major  Hill, 
2nd  Artillery,  Acting  Provost  Marshal,  asks  "  from 
the  Provost-Marshal-General  at  Washington,  in 
August,  1863,  for  soldiers  to  execute  the  draft  in 
Detroit,  Michigan.  Captain  Conner  of  17th  United 
States  Infantry,  reports  "  using  soldiers  to  put  down 
resistance  to  the  draft  at  Eutland,  Vermont,  August 
3rd,  1863. 

Governor  Gilmore,  of  New  Hampshire  wrote  Sec- 
retary Stanton''  January  13th,  1864,  of  a  clamor 

^  In  a  letter  signed  Henry  Chauncy,  New  York,  headed  Bishop  Williams. 
»  War  of  the  Rebellion,  dc,  Serial  No.  124,  p.  665. 
"  War  of  the  Rebellion,  die.,  Serial  No.  124,  p.  639. 
"  Same  book  as  last  reference,  p.   624  and  p.  625. 
"  War  of  the  Rebellion,  <&c.,  Serial  No.   125. 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  189 

against  the  Government  and  that  ^^the  Copperheads 
are  jubilant."  In  the  same  volume,  p.  1188,  the 
same  wrote  the  same,  February  20,  1865,  what  gives 
light  on  the  means  used  to  fill  the  drafts :  *  *  The  war 
news  is  glorious.  Let  us  have  $200,000,  and  I  will 
see  that  our  whole  quota  of  2,072  men  is  filled  by 
the  20th  March.  We  want  the  money  to  pay  boun- 
ties with  to  fill  our  quota. ' ' 

Eopes  says,  **and  though  Maryland,  Kentucky, 
and  Missouri  remained  in  the  Union,"  yet  the  feel- 
ing of  a  considerable  part  of  the  people  in  those 
States  in  favor  of  the  new  movement  was  so  strong 
— aided  as  it  was  by  the  conviction  that  their  States 
would  have  seceded,  but  for  the  active  interference 
of  the  United  States  Government — that  the  South- 
ern cause  received  substantial  aid  from  each  of 
them." 

The  War  of  the  Rebellion,  Series  III,  Vol.  IV, 
Serial  No.  125,  pp.  1173-5,  gives  a  memorial  address 
to  President  Lincoln,  January  31,  1865,  by  the  Con- 
stitutional Convention  of  Missouri,  at  St.  Louis. 
Among  reasons  why  the  draft  presses  too  hard  on 
Missouri,  they  say  (p.  1174),  ''You  will  bear  in  mind 
that  at  the  beginning  of  the  second  year  of  this  war 
almost,  if  not  quite,  half  our  people  were  disloyal." 

Schouler  says  {History  of  the  United  States,  Vol. 
V,  p.  508),*'  .  .  .  And  not  without  internal  bit- 
terness and  fratricide  were  Delaware,  Kentucky, 
Tennessee  and  Missouri  rescued  from  the  perilous 
brink"  of  secession.     It  may  surprise  us  to  find 


"  But   Missouri   did   secede   October   1,    1861,    and   Kentucky   November   20, 
1861. 


190  THE  KEAL  LINCOLN 

Delaware  first  in  Schouler's  list  above,  but  the  Ap- 
pendix shows  how  very  far  he  was  from  any  good- 
will to  the  South,  and  Greeley  tells  us  {American 
Conflict,  1864,  Vol.  I,  p.  407)  that  in  Wilmington, 
Delaware,  a  salute  of  a  hundred  guns  was  fired,  at 
the  news  of  the  secession  of  South  Carolina. 

The  Memorial  of  the  Public  Meeting  of  the  Chris- 
tian Men  of  Chicago,  held  September  7,  1862  (Fund 
Publication,  No.  27,  of  Maryland  Historical  Society, 
p.  12),  states  that  Maryland,  Kentucky,  and  Mis- 
souri **have  been  kept  in  subjection  only  by  over- 
whelming military  force. ' ' 

Dr.  Holland  gives  {Abraham  Lincoln,  p.  289)  an 
explanation  of  what  he  calls  **Mr.  Lincoln's  pacific 
policy  at  this  time."  .  .  .  ^^an  early  and  de- 
cided war  policy  would  have  been  morally  certain 
to  drive  every  slave  State  into  the  Confederacy  ex- 
cept Maryland  and  Delaware,  and  they  would  only 
have  been  retained  by  force." 

About  the  Sons  of  Liberty,  J.  Holt  wrote  to  Stan- 
ton August  5,  1864,  from  the  Bureau  of  Military 
Justice,  a  report  as  follows.'*  He  calls  it  *^a  trea- 
sonable organization,"  and  says:  .  .  .  ^^that 
its  officers  in  Missouri  all  occupy  high  social  posi- 
tions;" .  .  .  that  it  is  successor  to  the  ^m\^/i^5 
of  the  Golden  Circle,  and  of  the  Corps  de  Belgique, 
and  of  the  Order  of  American  Knights;  .  .  . 
that  it  is  in  complete  sympathy  with  the  rebellion, 
which  it  holds  to  be  justified  and  right;  .  .  . 
that  it  ^'exists  alike  in  the  North  and  in  the  South, 

"^^War  of  the  Rebellion;  Official  Records  of  the  Union  and  Confederate 
Armies,  Serial  No.   125,  pp.   577-579. 


THE  EEAL  LINCOLN  191 

Vallandigham  being  its  head  in  the  loyal  and  Price 
its  head  in  the  disloyal  States;"  .  .  .  that  ** the 
order  is  numerous  in  Indiana,  Illinois,  Missouri, 
Ohio,  Kentucky,  and  New  York,  and  exists  in  sev- 
eral of  the  other  States.  In  St.  Louis  it  is  estimated 
that  the  membership  amounts  to  5,000 ;  in  Missouri 
to  some  40,000  or  50,000.  In  Indiana  a  strength 
much  beyond  this  is  assigned  to  it.  It  is  understood 
that  Governor  Brough  supposes  25,000  of  the  order 
to  be  around  in  Ohio.  They  are  believed  to  be 
armed  in  large  proportion  in  Indiana,  Illinois  and 
Missouri,  but  in  less  proportion  in  Kentucky  and 
New  York. ' ' 

General  Halleck,  Military  Adviser  of  the  Presi- 
dent, and  General  in  Chief,  wrote  General  Grant 
from  Washington,  April  12,  1864,  the  following," 
which  shows  conclusively,  considering  the  writer 
and  the  official  he  addressed,  a  very  serious  disloy- 
alty in  three  States :  ^^I  have  just  received  General 
Heintzelman's  report  on  General  Burbaze's  tele- 
gram in  regard  to  arresting  certain  persons  in 
Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois.  General  Heintzelman 
does  not  deem  it  prudent  to  make  arrests  at  the 
present  time,  as  a  rescue  would  probably  be  at- 
tempted, and  his  force  is  not  sufficient  to  put  down 
an  insurrection.  He  thinks  there  will  be  a  forcible 
resistance  to  the  draft,  and  greatly  fears  disturb- 
ances before  that  time.  He  does  not  deem  the  pris- 
oners of  war  as  secure,  and  thinks  a  combination 
has  been  formed  to  release  them  and  seize  the  arse- 

"  War   of   the   Rebellion;    Official   Records   of   the    Union   and   Confederate 
Armies,  Serial  No.  125,  p.  613. 


192  THE  EEAL  LINCOLN 

nals.  To  provide  against  this,  he  wants  10,000  men 
in  each  of  the  States  of  Indiana  and  Illinois,  and 
5,000  in  Ohio. 

^'General  Pope  and  the  Provost  Marshal  of  Wis- 
consin report  that  there  will  be  armed  resistance  to 
the  draft  in  that  State.  ...  I  think  much  im- 
portance should  be  attached  to  the  representations 
of  General  Heintzelman  in  regard  to  the  condition 
of  a:ffairs  in  the  West." 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

PURPOSE  OF  EMANCIPATION 

THE  purpose  and  expectation  with  which  Lin- 
coln issued  the  Emancipation  Proclamation  has 
been  questioned  and  discussed  as  follows :  Burgess 
says  (The  Civil  War  and  the  Constitution,  p.  16  or 
118)  of  Lincoln's  Emancipation  Proclamation,  '*It 
contained  paragraphs  which  might  fairly  be  inter- 
preted, and  were  so  interpreted  by  the  Confederates, 
as  inciting  the  negroes  to  rise  against  their  mas- 
ters, thus  exposing  to  all  the  horrors  of  a  servile 
insurrection,  with  its  accompaniment  of  murder  and 
outrage,  the  farms  and  plantations  where  the  women 
and  children  of  the  South  lived  lonely  and  unpro- 
tected.'^  Burgess  offers  a  labored  defense  (Vol. 
II,  p.  16,  et  seq.)  against  the  charge  that  Lincoln's 
purpose  was  slave  insurrection,  or  *'at  least  that 
Lincoln  saw  that  the  inevitable  result  of  his  act 
would  be  slave  insurrection;"  and  Burgess  fully 
concedes  that  the  incitement  of  slaves  to  massacres 
of  their  masters  would  be  not  only  immoral,  but 
positively  ^ ^barbaric."  And  Burgess  adds  (p.  118), 
still  in  the  line  of  apology,  '*It  is  to  be  regretted 
that  the  questions  at  issue  between  the  Union  and 
the  Confederacy  could  not  have  been  fought  out, 
when  appealed  to  the  trial  of  arms,  by  the  whites 
only;  but  it  is  difficult  to  demonstrate  the  immoral- 
ity of  Mr.  Lincoln's  order  upon  this  subject." 

193 


194  THE  KEAL  LINCOLN 

It  is  not  difficult  to  understand  why  servile  insur- 
rection, with  all  its  horrors,  was  expected  by  people 
outside  of  the  South.  The  slavery  in  the  South  had 
been  pictured  to  the  world  very  falsely — notably  by 
Mrs.  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe  in  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin; 
nor  is  it  difficult  to  explain  why  the  expectation  of 
the  horrors  of  servile  insurrection  was  disappointed, 
but  the  explanation  is  too  long  for  this  page,  and  will 
be  found  in  a  note  below." 

*  It  is  a  graceless  task,  in  this  twentieth  century,  to  say  anything  that  looks 
like  a  defense,  or  even  an  apology,  for  slavery;  but  the  proverb  tells  us  to  give 
even  the  devil  his  due,  and  on  that  ground,  at  least,  those  who  most  hate  the 
memory  of  slavery  may  listen  to  the  following  suggestions.  They  are  sub- 
mitted that  the  children  of  slaveholders  may  be  saved  from  being  betrayed 
into  the  error  of  regarding  with  reprobation  the  conduct  of  their  parents  in 
holding  slaves. 

Those  who  rejoice  most  in  the  emancipation  of  the  negroes  must  find  a  eerious 
check  in  their  exultation  if  they  open  their  eyes  to  some  of  the  chief  changes 
in  the  condition  of  the  negro  race  since  its  emancipation. 

The  negro  slave  was  a  highly  valued  member  of  the  body  politic;  a  tiller 
of  the  soil,  whose  services  could  be  counted  on  when  the  crop  was  pitched, 
and  a  laborer  who  furnished  to  all  his  fellows,  young  and  old,  sick  and  well, 
a  more  liberal  supply  of  the  necessaries  of  life  than  was  ever  granted  to  any 
other  laboring  class  in  any  other  place  or  any  other  age.  And  in  what  the 
Economists  call  the  distribution  of  the  wealth  that  was  produced  by  the  negro's 
labor  and  the  skill  of  the  master  who  guided  and  restrained  him,  the  share 
the  master  took  was  small  indeed  compared  with  what  the  Captains  of  In- 
dustry took  in  the  free  society  of  the  same  day.  Compared  with  the  share 
those  Captains  take  now,  the  modest  share  taken  by  the  masters  was  what 
the  magnates  of  to-day  would  scorn  to  consider.  The  negro  lived,  too,  in 
cheerful  ignorance  of  the  ills  for  which  he  has  been  so  much  pitied.  One  Is 
startled  now  to  hear  the  cheerful  whistle  or  the  loud  outburst  of  song  from 
a  negro  that  once  was  heard  on  every  hand,  night  and  day.  Nor  was  his 
attitude  one  of  mere  resignation  to  his  lot.  That  it  was  one  of  hearty  good- 
will to  the  masters  was  conclusively  shown  during  the  war  between  the 
States.  A  distinguished  Northern  writer  has  lately  invited  attention  to  the 
indisputable  fact  that  the  negroes  could  have  ended  the  war  during  any  one 
day  or  night  that  it  lasted.  And  the  kindly  attitude  of  the  negro  to  the 
master  was  shown  not  negatively  only,  not  by  forbearance  only.  Not  only  did 
a  vast  majority  of  them  stay  at  their  posts,  working  to  feed  and  watching  to 
protect  the  families  of  the  absent  soldiers — when  all  the  able-bodied  white  men 
were  absent  soldiers — ^but  after  their  emancipation  ten  thousand  examples  oc- 
curred of  respectful  and  grateful  and  even  generous  conduct  to  their  late 
masters  for  one  instance  where  a  revengeful  or  a  reproachful  or  even  disre- 
spectful demonstration  was  made.      Of   the  few  survivors  of   those  who  stood 


THE  KEAL  LINCOLN  195 

Arming  the  slaves  was  one  of  the  metliods  adopted 
to  suppress  '^disloyalty."  To  arm  slaves  against 
their  masters,  with  the  horrors  that  may  be  ex- 
pected to  result,  has  been  accounted  barbarity.  The 
French  have  been  bitterly  denounced  by  American 
historians  for  arming  the  Indians  against  the  early 
English  settlers  in  America.  Did  the  people  of  the 
North  and  West  approve  of  arming  the  slaves 
against  their  Southern  masters?  What  was  Lin- 
coln's purpose  and  expectation  in  doing  it? 

Greeley  says  (American  Conflict,  Vol.  I,  p.  527) 
that  the  **  repugnance  in  Congress  and  in  the  press, 
and  among  the  people,  to  arming  the  blacks,  was 
quite  as  acrid,  pertinacious,  and  denunciatory  as 
that  which  had  been  excited  by  the  policy  of  eman- 

in  the  relation  of  master  and  slave,  a  considerable  number  still  maintain 
relations  of  strong  and  often  tender  friendship.  John  Stuart  Mill  worshipped 
liberty  and  detested  slavery,  but  he  confessed  that  the  goodwill  of  the  slaves 
to  the  master  was  to  him  inexplicable.  And  all  this  is  none  the  less  true, 
if  all  be  granted  as  true  about  the  abuses  of  slavery  that  Mrs.  Harriet  Beecher 
Stowe  painted  in  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  and  in  the  Key  to  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin. 
Abuses  no  less  vile  and  on  a  far  greater  scale  have  occurred  and  still  occur 
in  England  and  in  America,  with  all  their  boasts  of  freedom;  not  to  speak 
of  late  occurrences  in   South  Africa  and  in  the   Philippines. 

To-day  the  negro  is  a  formidable  danger  to  the  State  and  to  society,  and  a 
danger  that  threatens  only  too  surely  to  become  constantly  a  greater  danger. 
Elaboration  of  this  proposition  is  unnecessary. 

The  curious  may  still  see  a  manuscript  letter  (written  late  in  the  18th 
century)  in  which  Peter  Minor,  of  Petersburg,  Virginia,  frankly  tells  his 
nephew,  John  Minor,  of  Fredericksburg,  that  the  Virginia  Legislature  did 
right  in  rejecting  a  bill  the  nephew  had  proposed  for  the  emancipation  of  the 
negroes,  and  says  that  they  had  as  well  turn  loose  bears  and  lions  among  the 
people.  The  Virginians  of  that  day  were  as  ardent  lovers  of  all  attainable 
liberty  as  the  Virginians  of  the  sixties,  whose  conduct  in  the  war  between 
the  States  has  at  last  extorted  high  praise  even  from  such  a  representative  of 
the  best  product  of  New  England  as  Mr.  Charles  Francis  Adams,  son  of  Mr. 
Lincoln's  Minister  to  England.  The  Virginians  of  a  still  earlier  day,  with 
other  Southern  leaders,  notably  the  Georgians,  had  Striven  often  and  in  vain 
to  get  the  importation  of  slaves  stopped;  but  Parliament  before  the  Revolu- 
tion and  Congress  afterwards  listened  to  the  owners  of  the  slave-ships  of  Old 
England  and  New  England  and  continued  the  slave  trade.     Many  of  the  for- 


196  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

cipation."  We  have  seen  how  very  acrid  and  perti- 
nacious that  repugnance  was. 

James  C.  Welling  {Reminiscences  of  Lincoln,  Sc, 
p.  521)  quotes  the  diary  of  Secretary  Chase  to  prove 
that  on  the  21st  of  July,  1862,  in  a  Cabinet  meeting, 
^^the  President  expressed  himself  as  averse  to  arm- 
ing the  negroes  .  .  .  ;^'  and  Welling  shows  by 
the  same  diary  of  the  3rd  August,  1862,  that  the 
President  said,  on  the  same  question,  that  he  **was 
pretty  well  cured  of  any  objection  to  any  measure, 
except  want  of  adaptedness  to  putting  down  the  re- 
bellion. ' ' 

It  was  a  deliberate  conclusion,  for  Holland  quotes 
(Abraham  Lincoln,  p.  391)  a  letter  of  Lincoln's  to 

tunes  that  now  startle  us  with  their  splendor  in  Newport,  R.  I.,  had  their 
origin  in  the  slave  trade,  and  the  social  magnates  who  have  inherited  these  for- 
tunes might  take  with  perfect  right  as  their  coat  of  arms  a  handcuffed  negro, 
the  design  which  Queen  Elizabeth  gave  to  Captain  John  Hawkins  for  his 
escutcheon,  when  she  knighted  him  as  a  reward  for  the  benefit  that  he  had 
conferred  on  Christendom  in  originating  the  slave  trade  from  the  coast  of 
Africa  to  America.     John  Fiske  tells  us  the  story. 

But  the  Virginians  knew  the  negro.  Although  his  industrial  education  on 
the  Southern  plantations  had  raised  him  far  above  the  bloody  and  cannibalis- 
tic barbarism  of  his  home  in  Africa,  the  Virginians  knew  that  to  emancipate 
him  as  the  chivalrous  young  legislator  proposed  would  be  to  "turn  loose  lions 
and  bears  among  them,"  as  old  Peter  Minor  said.  They  foresaw  one  of  the 
consequences  of  emancipation — the  danger  to  which  a  hundred  thousand  hus- 
bands and  fathers  of  the  South  must  to-day  leave  their  homes  exposed  if  they 
leave  them  unguarded  for  an  hour.  Each  day's  newspapers  make  it  impos- 
sible to  deny  this  state  of  things.  All  Christendom  is  crying  shame  on  the 
barbarous  lynchings  that  are  occurring  in  the  States  of  the  North  as  well  as 
of  the  South,  but  even  New  England  must  concede  that  the  provocation  in  the 
North  is  trifling  compared  with  that  in  the  South.  Since  President  Roosevelt 
has  twice  suggested  the  barbarities  practiced  by  Filipinos  as  palliation  for  the 
guilt  of  the  tortures  which  so  many  of  his  soldiers  have  been  convicted  of 
using  on  "insurgent"  Filipinos,  none  should  forget  the  provocation,  without 
a  parallel  in  history,  for  the  lynching  in  the  Southern  States. 

A  suggestion  from  Grover  Cleveland  has  great  weight  with  many  good  and 
wise  men,  but  some  curious  and  interesting  recollections  are  suggested  by  his 
recommendation  in  a  late  address  "that  technical  schools  for  negroes  be  dotted 
all  over  the  South."  A  very  elaborate  exposition  of  the  need  for  technical 
education  of  the  people  in  place  of  the  kind  that  has  been  till  now  given  was 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  197 

A.  G.  Hodges,  of  Frankfort,  Kentucky,  April  4, 1864, 
.  .  .  ^'I  believed  the  indispensable  necessity  for 
military  emancipation  and  arming  the  blacks  would 
come."  .  .  .  We  have  further  light  how  it  was 
regarded  in  an  extract  given  by  Rhodes  {History 
of  the  United  States ^  Vol.  IV,  p.  333),  from  an  ad- 
dress of  Major  Higginson  at  Cambridge  in  1897, 
*'for  at  that  date  (February,  1863)  plenty  of  good 
people  frowned  on  the  use  of  colored  troops.''  We 
have  Lincoln's  own  statement  of  the  public  mind 
about  it,  quoted  by  Rhodes  {History  of  the  United 
States,  Vol.  IV,  p.  334) :  ^^I  was  opposed  on  nearly 
every  side  when  I  first  favored  the  raising  of  col- 
ored regiments,"  said  President  Lincoln  to  General 
Grant,  ^^and  no  one  can  appreciate  the  heroism  of 

published  in  1892  (this  note  was  written  in  Jan.,  1903)  as  a  report  of  the 
Department  of  Education  at  "Washington  with  all  the  authentication  that  the 
Government  could  give  it,  and  its  recommendations  have  been  largely  adopted. 
In  setting  forth  the  need  for  this  great  change  this  report  declares  that  the 
existing  public  school  system  is  such  a  failure  that  something  radically  differ- 
ent must  be  substituted  for  it.  The  concession  of  failure  is  hardly  less  com- 
plete than  that  lately  made  by  another  authority  of  the  very  highest  rank, 
President  Eliot,  of  Harvard  University,  in  addresses  made  to  two  great  edu- 
cational assemblies  in  two  New  England  States.  Incidentally  the  report  makes 
another  concession,  and  it  is,  as  is  said  above,  curious  and  interesting  to 
compare  it  with  what  Mr.  Cleveland  now  proposes  as  the  cure  for  the  coun- 
try's grievous  embarrassment  about  the  emancipated  negro. 

The  authoritative  document  referred  to  above,  issued  by  the  Government  in 
Washington  for  the  instruction  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  (Bureau  of 
Education  Circular  of  Information  No.  1,  1892,  "Southern  Women  in  Recent 
Educational  Movements  in  the  South,"  pp.  75,  93,  100  et  passim,  by  the  Rev. 
A.  D.  Mayo)  expressly  declares  that  the  best  technical  education  that  the 
world  has  ever  seen  or  can  ever  hope  to  see  was  the  education  that  was  given 
by  their  masters  to  the  negroes  before  their  emancipation.  There  was  good 
reason  why  it  should  be  so.  Every  boy  and  every  girl  was  set  to  such  work 
as  each  was  best  fitted  for  and  taught  to  do  it  well;  for  the  teaching  was  not 
done  by  a  salaried  official  with  the  inefficiency  so  familiar  to  us  all,  but  by 
a  person  strongly  prompted  by  interest  to  make  the  teaching  successful  and 
having  power  to  enforce  exertion  in  the  pupil,  while  he  or  she  was  at  the 
same  time  strongly  restrained  by  self-interest  from  impairing  the  health  of 
the  pupil  by  work  at  too  early  an  age  or  too  hard  work  or  too  dangerous  work 


198  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

Colonel  Shaw  ^  and  his  officers  and  soldiers  without 
adding  the  savage  threats  of  the  enemy,  the  disap- 
probation of  friends,  the  antipathy  of  the  army,  the 
sneers  of  the  multitude  here ;  without  reckoning  the 
fire  in  the  rear  as  well  as  the  fire  in  front." 

It  seems  impossible  to  refuse  to  Lincoln  what  he 
thus  claims — all  the  credit  that  is  deserved  by  any 
one  for  arming  the  slaves,  and,  as  his  own  account 
shows  the  bitter  reprobation  it  received  from  the 
people  of  the  North  and  West,  and  from  the  army, 
no  one  should  be  surprised  at  Ehodes'  report  {His- 
tory/ of  the  United  States,  Vol.  IV,  p.  344)  that  *^The 
governing  classes  in  England  could  see  in  it" — ^the 
Emancipation  Proclamation — ^^  nothing  but  an  at- 

at  any  age.  Is  not  this  in  strange  contrast  with  the  "free"  labor  of  to-day, 
when  such  strong  protests  are  urged  every  day  against  child  labor,  overwork 
and  dangerous  work  in  the  factories  and  the  mines  of  the  North  and  South? 

One  of  the  worst  of  the  many  reproaches  brought  against  the  slave-owner 
by  the  abolitionist  was  the  allegation  that  he  denied  his  slave  education.  Is 
it  not  curious  to  observe  that  the  highest  authorities  now  say  that  it  is  neces- 
sary to  change  the  existing  system  of  education  to  one  radically  different,  and 
to  learn  that  the  highest  authority  in  the  United  States,  the  Department  of 
Education,  has  conceded  that  the  technical  education  to  which  we  are  turning 
had  attained  its  highest  perfection  in  the  system  of  slavery  which  has  dis- 
appeared ? 

Another  truth  about  slavery  seems  to  have  escaped  the  observation  of  all. 
No  one  will  deny  that  the  evils  of  drunkenness  are  among  the  greatest  that 
society  has  to  encounter.  It  is  needless  to  recite  them.  It  is  no  less  incon- 
testable that  nineteen-twentieths  of  these  evils  fall  on  the  laboring  class.  The 
drunken  laborer  brings  the  miseries  of  cold  and  hunger  and  death  from  want 
upon  mothers,  sisters,  wives,  widows  and  children.  Drink  hurt  the  health  of  an 
exceedingly  small  number  of  the  negro  slaves  and  the  life  of  almost  none. 
And  when  disabling  sickness  or  death  from  that  or  from  any  other  cause  did 
come,  it  made  no  difference  at  all  in  the  supply  of  food,  clothing,  fire,  doctors 
or  nurses  to  the  aged,  the  women  or  the  children. 

Some  tender  hearts  who  do  not  deserve  to  be  called  sentimental  will  be 
revolted  at  the  claims  suggested  in  this  paper  of  such  benevolent  functions 
for  slavery,  but  only  by  closing  their  eyes  to  the  truth  can  they  deny  the 
claims. 

2  Shaw  was  a  Boston  gentleman  who  accepted  the  colonelcy  of  a  regiment 
of  negroes.  There  is  a  monument  to  Col.  Robert  G.  Shaw  in  Boston,  He  is 
mounted  and  leading  soldiers   (Negroes?). 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  199 

tempt  to  excite  servile  insurrection,"  in  support  of 
which  statement  Ehodes  quotes  (p.  355)  the  follow- 
ing from  the  London  Times:  ^* President  Lincoln 
calls  to  his  aid  the  execrable  expedient  of  a  servile 
insurrection/'  Rhodes  quotes  the  Saturday  Review, 
too,  as  making  it  a  crime,  and  further  says  that 
even  friends  of  the  United  States  in  England  sent 
back  ^'comments  that  were  dubious  and  chilling," 
for  which  he  quotes  The  London  Spectator  and  the 
Duchess  of  Argyle.  The  Spectator  has  not  ceased 
to  this  day — 1903 — boasting  of  its  steady  support 
of  the  North  against  the  South  in  this  contest,  and 
of  having  been  almost  alone  in  supporting  that  side. 
Rhodes  further  says  that  the  London  Times  and  the 
Saturday  Review  represented  the  highest  intelli- 
gence of  England. 

How  Negro  Soldiers  Were  ^^ Enlisted/' 

A  romantic  picture  has  been  presented  to  the 
world  of  the  negroes  enlisting — one  hundred  and 
eighty  thousand  of  them — in  the  Union  army  to 
vindicate  their  liberty.  See  what  the  facts  were. 
We  have  Gen.  W.  T.  Sherman's  account  of  the  way 
the  negro  soldiers  were  enlisted  and  his  estimate  of 
their  value  (Memoir,  Vol.  II,  p.  249).  At  the  end 
of  his  March  to  the  Sea  he  says,  ^^When  we  reached 
Savannah  we  were  beset  by  ravenous  State  Agents 
from  Hilton  Head,  South  Carolina,  who  enticed  and 
carried  away  our  servants  and  the  corps  of  pio- 
neers '  which  we  had  organized,  and  which  had  done 

'All  negroes;  he  has  shown  that  he  used  the  negroes  only  as  laboring 
pioneers  and  as  servants,  not  at  all  as  soldiers. 


200  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

such  excellent  service.  On  one  occasion  my  own 
aide-de-camp,  Colonel  Audenreid,  found  at  least  a 
hundred  poor  negroes  shut  up  in  a  house  and  pen, 
waiting  for  the  night,  to  be  conveyed  stealthily  to 
Hilton  Head.  They  appealed  to  him  for  protection 
alleging  that  they  had  been  told  that  they  must  be 
soldiers;  that  ^Massa  Lincoln'  wanted  them.  I 
never  denied  the  slaves  a  full  opportunity  for  en- 
listment, but  I  did  prohibit  force  to  be  used,  for  I 
knew  that  the  State  Agents  were  more  influenced 
by  the  profit  they  derived  from  the  large  bounties 
than  by  any  love  of  country  or  of  the  colored  race. 
In  the  language  of  Mr.  Frazier,  the  enlistment  of 
every  black  man  'did  not  strengthen  the  army,  but 
took  away  one  white  man  from  the  ranks.'  "* 

Leland  (Lincoln,  p.  61,  et  seq.)  quotes  a  soldier 
as  saying,  '^I  used  to  be  opposed  to  having  black 
troops,  but  when  I  saw  ten  cart-loads  of  dead  niggers 
carried  off  the  field  yesterday  I  thought  it  better 
they  should  be  killed  than  L'' 

Sherman's  report  above  of  State  Agents  kid- 
napping negroes  to  be  shipped  for  enlistment  from 
Hilton  Head,  on  the  coast  of  South  Carolina,  has 
light  cast  upon  it  by  the  two  following  extracts. 
The  War  of  the  Behellion,  Sc,  Serial  125,  p.  631, 
gives  a  letter  of  the  Mayor  of  Boston,  H.  Alexander, 
Jr.,  endorsed  with  urgent  approval  by  Governor 
Andrew,  August  22,  1864,  as  follows:  ''From  pres- 
ent indications,  I  believe  it  will  be  impossible  for 

*  Sherman's  authoi-itative  professional  opinion  here  antagonizes  the  often 
repeated  allegation  that  "the  colored  troops  fought  nobly."  The  fact  that  "the 
enlistment  of  every  black  man  took  a  white  man  from  the  ranks"  was  one 
temptation  to  vote  for  arming  the  slaves,  to  men  eager  to  escape  military  serv- 
ice, as  nearly  all  the  people  of  all  the  States  are  shown  to  have  been. 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  201 

this  city  to  fill  its  quota  under  the  last  call  of  the 
President  by  volunteers  from  its  own  citizens."  Of 
the  men  enrolled  he  says,  ^^More  or  less  of  these 
men  are  now  leaving  the  city  daily  to  avoid  draft, 
and  as  the  5th  of  September  approaches,  the  num- 
ber leaving  will  be  largely  increased;  .  .  .  that 
more  than  500  of  the  ablest-bodied  young  men  .  . 
.  .  will  have  left.  .  .  Now,  what  we  want,  and 
what  I  hope  we  may  accomplish,  is  to  get  men  from 
abroad  to  go  as  volunteers. '^  In  the  next  preceding 
volume  of  the  record  last  quoted,  suJBficiently  indi- 
cated as  Serial  Number  124,  at  p.  110,  Governor 
Andrew,  of  Massachusetts,  writes  Secretary  Stan- 
ton, April  1,  1863,  .  .  .  '*If  the  United  States 
is  not  prepared  to  organize  a  brigade  in  North  Caro- 
lina, I  would  gladly  take  those  black  men  who  may 
choose  to  come  here,  receive  our  State  bounty,  and 
be  mustered  in." 

General  Sherman  shows  above  how  some  of  the 
negro  soldiers  were  enlisted.  Here  is  light  upon 
another  method.  Leslie  T.  Perry '  quotes  from  a 
letter  of  Lincoln  to  Lieutenant-Colonel  Glenn,  Hen- 
derson, Kentucky,  of  February  7,  1865 :  ^  ^  Complaint 
is  made  to  me  that  you  are  forcing  negroes  into  the 
military  service,  and  even  torturing  them,"  and 
Lincoln  reproves  it,  though  not  severely,  and  forbids 
it.  An  examination  of  the  orders  of  Major-General 
David  Hunter,  commanding  the  Department  of 
the  South,  as  found  in  the  War  of  the  ReheUion, 
will    account   for    all   the    negroes    that   were    en- 

°  Late  of   the  "War   Record's  Board   of   Publication.      See   Lippincott's   Maga- 
zine for   February,    1902. 


202  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

listed.  General  Hunter  gives  orders  (Series  I, 
Vol.  IV,  p.  466)  how  to  deal  with  ^^all  fugitives  who 
come  within  our  lines.  .  .  .  Such  as  are  able- 
bodied  men  you  will  at  once  enroll  and  arm  as 
soldiers.''  Again,  from  headquarters.  Department 
of  the  South,  Hilton  Head,  South  Carolina,  August 
16, 1864,  General  Hunter  issued  the  order,  **A11  able- 
bodied  colored  men  between  the  ages  of  eighteen 
and  fifty  within  the  military  lines  of  the  Department 
of  the  South,  who  have  had  an  opportunity  to  enlist 
voluntarily  and  refused  to  do  so,  shall  be  drafted 
into  the  military  service  of  the  United  States,  to 
serve  as  non-commissioned  officers  and  soldiers  in 
the  various  regiments  and  batteries  now  being  or- 
ganized in  the  Department."  This  order  alone  may 
account  for  the  whole  180,000  colored  volunteers. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 
OPPOSITION  TO  Lincoln's  ke-election 

THE  crowning  proof  of  the  attitude  of  a  very 
large  part  of  the  people  of  the  North  and  the 
West  is  the  platform  and  the  nominee  adopted  by 
the  Democratic  party  for  the  presidential  election 
of  1864  near  the  end  of  the  war.  It  advocated  the 
abandonment  of  the  war,  and  the  nominee  was 
McClellan,  an  avowed  opponent  of  emancipation. 
Colonel  Theodore  Eoosevelt  said  in  a  speech  at 
Grand  Rapids,  Michigan,  September  8,  1900,  **In 
1864  the  Democratic  platform  denounced  the  fur- 
ther prosecution  of  the  Civil  War."  .  .  .  The 
Chairman  of  the  convention  in  1864  made  a  speech 
in  which  **he  declared  that  every  lover  of  civil 
liberty  throughout  the  world  was  interested  in  the 
success  of  the  Copperhead  party."  Such  was  the 
issue  adopted  on  which  to  appeal  to  the  North  and 
the  West,  and  the  framers  of  it  were  called  by  Lin- 
coln's Secretary  of  the  Navy*  some  of  the  most 
astute  and  experienced  statesmen  of  their  day.  Nor 
was  the  appeal  a  failure,  as  has  been  so  widely 
heralded.  It  is  Ida  Tarbell,  Nicolay  and  Hay,  But- 
ler, Schouler,  Holland,  McClure,  Lincoln  himself, 
who  have  recorded  as  follows :    That  three  months 


*  Welles'  paper,  The  Opposition  to  Lincoln  in  1864,  in  The  Atlantic  Monthly, 
Vol.  XVI.,  dated  1878. 

203 


204  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

after  his  renomination  they  all  despaired  of  his  re- 
election. 

Gilmore  gives  (Personal  Recollections  of  Abra- 
ham Lincoln,  p.  102)  a  long  list  of  names,  including 
'*  about  all  the  most  prominent  Republican  leaders, 
except  Conkling,  Sumner,  and  Wilson,"  who,  with 
more  or  less  full  committal,  joined  in  a  solicitation 
to  Rosecrans  to  run  against  Lincoln.  Ida  Tarbell 
concedes  '  only  '  *  a  few  conservatives  supported  Lin- 
coln in  his  desire  for  a  second  term,"  while  *^ there 
were  more  who  doubted  his  ability,  and  who  were 
secretly  looking  for  a  better  man.  At  the  same 
time  a  strong  and  open  opposition  to  his  re-election 
had  developed." 

Nicolay  (OuthreaJc  of  the  Rebellion,  p.  475)  says: 
*^The  evident  desire  of  the  people  for  peace  was  a 
subject  of  deep  solicitude  to  the  administration." 
Morse  (Lincoln,  Vol.  II,  p.  274)  shows  the  general 
despair  of  electing  Lincoln,  in  a  letter  to  Lincoln 
from  Raymond,  chairman  of  the  Republican  Na- 
tional Executive  Committee,  August  22,  1864,  which 
says:  **I  hear  but  one  report — the  tide  is  setting 
against  us,"  speaking  himself  for  New  York,  and 
quoting  Cameron  for  Pennsylvania,  Washburne  for 
Illinois,  and  Morton  for  Indiana,  *^and  so  for  the 
rest." 

Nicolay  and  Hay  (Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  IX,  p. 
249)  say  that  ...  by  August,  1864,  Weed,  Ray- 
mond, every  one,  including  Lincoln,  despaired  of 
his  re-election.  A.  K.  McClure  says  (Our  Presi- 
dents and  How  We  Make  Them,  p.  183),  ^^But  in 

'McClure's  Magazine  for  July,  1899,  p.  268. 


THE  KEAL  LINCOLN  205 

fact  three  months  after  his  re-nomination  in  Balti- 
more his  defeat  by  General  McClellan  was  generally 
apprehended  by  his  friends  and  frankly  conceded 
by  Lincoln  himself."  Several  of  his  biographers 
give  copies  of  a  memorandum  sealed  up  by  Lincoln 
and  committed  to  one  of  his  Cabinet  for  safekeep- 
ing, in  which  is  recorded  his  conviction  that  Mc- 
Clellan's  election  over  him  was  certain,  with  a  state- 
ment of  his  purposes  how  to  act  during  the  interval 
before  McClellan  would  take  the  presidency.  It  is 
referred  to  by  Welles  in  his  papers  in  the  Atlantic 
Monthly/  under  the  heading,  ^^  Opposition  to  Lincoln 
in  1864,''  (pp.  266  and  366,  et  seq.)  as  ^'Lincoln's 
despondent  note  of  August  23,  1864,"  Ehodes,  too 
quotes  it.^ 

Allen  Thorndike  Rice  quotes,*  with  his  endorse- 
ment of  its  truth,  W.  H.  Croffut's  account  of  Lin- 
coln's offering  his  withdrawal  and  his  support  for 
the  presidency  to  Horatio  Seymour,  and  when  that 
failed,  his  offering  the  same  to  General  McClellan, 
because  he  despaired  of  being  himself  elected,  and 
asked  in  return  from  each  his  support  for  the  rest 
of  his  term.  Nicolay  and  Hay,  too,  tell  {Abraham 
Lincoln,  Vol.  VII,  p.  12)  of  Lincoln's  offer  to  Sey- 
mour of  the  nomination.  The  nomination  for  vice- 
president  Lincoln  had  offered  to  Gen.  B.  F.  Butler 
(Butler's  Book,  p.  155,  et  seq.)  before  he  procured** 
the  nomination  of  Andrew  Johnson. 


'Vol.  IV.,  p.  522.      See  also  Roosevelt's   Cromwell,  p.   208,   where  the   note 
is  referred  to. 

*  Reminiscences  of  Lincoln,  {6c.,  Introduction,   pp.   29  to  35. 

5  A.  K.  McClure's  Our  Presidents  and  How  We  Make  Them,  p.   185,   et  seq. 


206  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

Rhodes  says "  that  Thaddeus  Stevens  said  that  in 
the  winter  of  1863-4  there  was  but  one  single  mem- 
ber of  Congress  who  favored  Lincoln's  re-nomina- 
tion, and  Rhodes  gives  a  long  list  of  the  names  of 
leaders  that  opposed  him,  showing  *^a  formidable 
discontent,"  and  he  says  further,  ^* Striking  indeed 
it  is  to  one  who  immerses  himself  in  the  writings  of 
the  time  to  contrast  the  almost  universal  applause 
of  Grant  with  the  abuse  of  Lincoln  by  the  Demo- 
crats, the  caustic  criticism  of  him  by  some  of  the 
radical  Republicans ;  the  damning  of  him  with  faint 
praise  by  others  of  the  same  faction. ' '  All  this  was 
in  the  spring  of  1864.  Again  Rhodes  says  (Vol.  IV, 
p.  518),  ^^  Greeley  wrote,  August  8,  1864,  *Mr.  Lin- 
coln is  already  beaten.'  ''  Rhodes  gives  evidence, 
like  Nicolay  above,  of  the  hopelessness  of  success 
that  prevailed  among  the  leading  Republicans  (His- 
tory of  the  United  States,  Vol.  IV,  p.  521),  quoting 
the  words  of  the  above-mentioned  reports  from 
Thurlow  "Weed,  E.  B.  Washburn,  from  Cameron 
about  Pennsylvania,  Morton  about  Indiana,  and 
Henry  J.  Raymond,  as  chairman  of  the  National 
Executive  Committee.  Governor  Morton  reported 
that  ^^  Indiana  would  go  against  us  50,000  tomor- 
row,'' and  the  Chairman,  ^Hhat  nothing  but  the 
most  resolute  and  decided  action  on  the  part  of  the 
Government  and  its  friends  can  save  the  country 
from  falling  into  hostile  hands."  Morse,  too  (Lin- 
coln, Vol.  II,  p.  247),  gives  Raymond's  letter  to  Lin- 
coln of  August  22nd  conveying  the  above  reports. 

Rhodes  records    (Vol.  IV,  p.  199,  et  seq,)  that 

^History  of  the  United  States,  Vol,  IV.,  p.  437  and  p.  462. 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  207 

Lincoln  himself  was  conscious  ^Hliat  he  was  losing 
his  hold  on  the  people  of  the  North." 

What  *^  resolute  and  decided  action  on  the  part 
of  the  Government"  relieved  it  from  this  hopeless 
condition  will  be  seen  in  the  next  chapter. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

HOW  LINCOLN  GOT  HIMSELF  RE-ELECTED 

IT  WAS  under  the  conditions  above  described  that 
Lincoln's  second  election  came  on.  The  way  it 
was  conducted  explains  why  he  no  longer  despaired 
of  success,  and  why  he  was  successful. 

Despotic  Control  by  the  Secretaries  of  State  and  of 

War 

The  management  of  the  election  was  committed 
in  large  measure  to  Seward,  Secretary  of  State,  and 
to  Stanton,  Secretary  of  War;  the  exercise  of  des- 
potic power  by  both  of  whom  has  been  described. 
Even  a  canvass  for  the  presidency  by  Democrats 
was  difficult,  for  an  order  of  the  War  Department 
had  made  criticism  of  the  administration  treason, 
triable  by  court-martial. 

Votes  of  Soldiers  in  the  Field  and  Soldiers  Sent 
Home  to  Vote 

A.  K.  McClure  {Our  Presidents  and  How  We 
Make  Them^  p.  195,  et  seq.)  gives  his  answer  to  a 
messenger  sent  him  ^'on  a  special  message  by  Lin- 
coln'' about  two  weeks  before  the  election,  to  learn 
the  situation  in  Pennsylvania,  as  follows:  ^^I  had 
to  tell  him  that  I  saw  little  hope  of  carrying  the 
State  on  a  home  vote.     The  army  vote  would  no 

208 


THE  KEAL  LINCOLN  209 

doubt  be  largely  for  Lincoln,  and  give  him  the 
State,  but  it  would  be  declared  a  bayonet  election, 
and  with  such  results  in  Pennsylvania,  and  New 
York  lost,  as  was  possible;  .  .  .  that  I  could 
go  to  AVashington  in  a  few  days,  if  it  should  appear 
necessary  to  take  extreme  measures  to  save  the 
State  on  the  home  vote.  ...  As  the  political 
conditions  did  not  improve,  I  telegraphed  Lincoln 
that  I  would  meet  him  ...  to  discuss  the  cam- 
paign." .  .  .  McClure  then  tells  how  he  pro- 
posed, and  Lincoln  agreed,  that  five  thousand 
Pennsylvania  soldiers  be  furloughed  by  Grant  for 
twenty  days,  ...  as  that  vote  cast  at  home 
would  ensure  a  home  majority.  Lincoln  answered 
that  he  had  no  reason  to  think  that  Grant  would 
favor  his  election — though  he  could  count  on  Meade 
and  Sheridan.  The  order  was  accordingly  sent  to 
General  Meade,  with  directions  that  the  order  he 
returned,  and,  as  soon  as  the  furloughs  were 
granted,  it  ivas  returned,  and  so  concealed.  In  con- 
nection with  this  disbelief  of  Lincoln  in  General 
Grant's  friendliness  to  his  re-election,  it  is  inter- 
esting to  consider  General  Wm.  T.  Sherman's  state- 
ment (Memoir,  Vol.  II,  p.  247)  that  Lincoln  was 
**  tortured  with  suspicions  of  my  infidelity  to  him 
and  his  negro  policy."  McClure  says,  too  (p.  162), 
that  a  constitutional  change  had  been  hurried 
through  in  Pennsylvania  that  same  summer  of 
1864,  that  **was  obviously  intended  to  give  the  mi- 
nority no  rights  at  all  in  holding  army  elections." 
He  says  the  law  was  *' liable  to  grossest  abuses,  and 
without  any  means  to  restrain  election  frauds,"  and 


210  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

his  description  shows  that  it  worked  so.  Allen 
Thorndike  Eice  tells  the  same  story  about  Grant. 
(Introduction  to  Reminiscences  of  Lincoln,  p.  43.) 

Chauncey  M.  Depew  describes  (Reminiscences  of 
Lincoln,  <fc.,  p.  22,  et  seq.)  the  working  of  the  new 
amendment  in  the  Pennsylvania  election;  .  .  . 
how  the  soldier  vote  was  polled —  .  .  .  **made 
out  by  the  soldier  himself,  certified  by  the  com- 
manding officer  of  his  company  or  regiment,  and 
sent  to  some  friend  at  his  last  voting  place  to  be 
deposited  on  election  day."  Depew  says  that  with- 
out the  soldier  vote,  so  managed,  Lincoln  would  have 
failed  to  get  the  vote  of  New  York. 

Ex-President  Buchanan  wrote  Mr.  Leiper,  Oc- 
tober 26,  1864  (Curtis'  Life  of  Buchanan,  Vol.  II, 
p.  627)  .  .  .  **and  I  now  indulge  the  hope  that 
we'' — ^that  is,  the  Democrats,  in  the  Pennsylvania 
election — ^^may  have  a  majority  over  the  soldiers' 
vote  and  all." 

Forcible  Control  of  Elections  hy  Armed  Soldiers 
and  hy  Suspension  of  the  Writ 

Gen.  B.  F.  Butler  tells  more  plainly  than  Depew 
above  why  Lincoln  did  not  *^fail  to  get  the  vote  of 
New  York."  He  says  (Butler's  Book,  p.  753  to  p. 
762)  that  early  in  November,  1864 — the  November 
of  Lincoln's  second  election — Stanton  summoned 
him,  and  sent  him  to  New  York  city  to  prevent  an 
anticipated  outbreak  in  the  city,  which  was  to  give 
the  whole  vote  of  New  York  to  McClellan  by  a  far 
more  widely  extended  and  far  better  organized  riot 
than  the  draft  riot  of  1863.  At  page  330,  et  seq., 
Butler  had  before  described  how  he  put  down  those 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  211 

draft  riots,  as  follows:  **Ten  thousand  infantry 
and  three  batteries  of  artillery,  picked  troops,  in- 
cluding regulars,  were  sent  to  New  York  city  from 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac."  By  aid  of  these,  Butler 
says,  that  *Hhe  draft  was  resumed,  and  proceeded 
with  entire  peacefulness."  Not  only  General  But- 
ler, but  Rhodes,  too,  describes,"  with  full  particulars, 
the  large  force  with  which  he  occupied  New  York 
city,  and  shows  how  completely  he  controlled  its 
vote  and  its  opposition  to  the  war  that  had  lately 
been  demonstrated  in  its  great  anti-draft  riot.  See 
how  frankly  Ehodes  concedes  that  this  despotic 
overruling  of  the  will  of  the  people  was  Lincoln's 
own  doing.  He  says  {History  of  the  United  States, 
Vol.  IV,  p.  417),  ^Ho  meet  the  action  of  the  judges 
who  were  releasing  his  conscripts  and  deserters,  he 
stopped  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  but  deferred  till 
four  days  after  the  election  his  call  for  three  hun- 
dred thousand  more  volunteers,  with  a  draft  to  fill 
deficiencies. ' '  In  considering  what  the  consequences 
would  have  been  of  a  failure  to  capture  Vicksburg, 
Rhodes  says  (p.  183),  *^If  nothing  worse,  certain 
it  is  that  President  Lincoln  would  have  been  de- 
posed, and  a  dictator  would  have  been  placed  in  his 
stead  as  chief  executive  until  peace  could  be  assured 
to  the  nation  by  separation  or  elsewise." 

Removal  of  His  Chief  Competitor 

In  the  chapter  headed  Estimates  of  Lincoln  it  has 
been  shown  that  he  had  from  first  to  last  the  bitter 

^Butler's  Book,  p.  752  to  p.  773,  and  Rhodes'  History  of  the  United  States, 
Vol.  IV.,  p.  330,  tt  aeq. 


212  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

and  contemptuous  hatred  of  his  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  Salmon  Portland  Chase,  whom  he  finally 
made  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States.  A.  K.  McClure  says  {Lincoln  and 
Men  of  the  War  Time,  p.  123,  et  seq.),  ** Lincoln's 
desire  for  re-nomination  was  the  one  thing  upper- 
most in  his  mind  during  the  third  year  of  his  ad- 
ministration. He  carefully  veiled  his  resentment 
against  Chase,  and  awaited  the  fullness  of  time 
when  he  could  by  some  fortuitous  circumstance  re- 
move Chase  as  a  competitor" — his  most  formidable 
and  conspicuous  competitor  for  the  presidency.  At 
page  127,  et  seq.,  McClure  says,  **  Chief  Justice 
Taney  died  the  12th  of  October,  1864.  Within  two 
weeks  after.  Chase  declared  himself  in  favor  of  the 
election  of  Lincoln."  Warden  says  {Life  of  Salmon 
P.  Chase,  p.  630,  et  seq.)  that  Senator  Sumner  told 
him  Mr.  Lincoln  once  proposed  to  him  to  send  for 
Mr.  Chase,  and  frankly  tell  him  that  in  his  (Lin- 
coln's) opinion  he  would  make  the  best  Chief  Justice 
we  ever  had,  if  he  could  only  get  rid  of  his  presi- 
dential ambition;  .  .  .  that  Senator  Sumner 
had  to  remind  Mr.  Lincoln  that  to  do  so  would  ex- 
pose the  President  to  imputations  as  to  his  motives, 
and  would  be  offensive  to  Mr.  Chase,  as  requiring 
in  effect  a  pledge  from  the  latter  not  to  be,  there- 
after, a  presidential  candidate.  Warden  says "  that 
Chase's   own   State — Ohio — made   the  most   bitter 

2  Page  630.  He  says  that  it  was  told  to  him  and  to  at  least  one  other 
person  by  Sumner,  that  Chase's  well  known  daughter,  Mrs.  Kate  Chase 
Sprague,  who  was  using  all  her  powers  to  win  him  the  Presidency,  met  Sum- 
ner, when  he  carried  to  Chase  the  news  of  his  confirmation  as  Chief  Justice, 
with  the  words,  "And  you,  too,  Mr.  Sumner,  in  this  business  of  shelving 
papa."     ,     .     . 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  213 

objection,  though  it  came  from  every  part  of  the 
country,  and  from  many  of  the  ablest  and  most 
earnest  of  Lincoln's  friends;  that  it  was  objected 
that  Chase  was  ^* without  legal  training,"  because 
his  life  had  been  devoted  almost  exclusively  to  poli- 
tics, as  a  United  States  Senator,  as  Governor,  as 
Senator  again,  in  the  Cabinet,  and  that  *'for  many 
years  he  had  given  no  thought  or  efforts  to  the  law. ' ' 
McClure  says  further  {Lincoln  and  Men  of  the  War 
Time,  p.  130)  of  Chase,  ^*His  personal  affronts  to 
Lincoln  had  been  contemptuous  and  flagrant  from 
the  time  he  entered  the  Cabinet  until  he  resigned 
from  it,  a  little  more  than  three  years  after,  and  I 
am  sure  that  at  no  time  during  that  period  did  Lin- 
coln ever  appeal  to  Chase  for  advice  as  a  friend; 
.  .  .  that  Lincoln  regarded  Chase  as  his  bitter 
and  malignant  enemy  during  all  that  period  cannot 
be  doubted;  .  .  that  it  was  not  pretended  (p. 
130)  that  Chase  had  any  claim  to  the  Chief  Justice- 
ship on  the  grounds  of  eminent  legal  attainments  or 
political  fidelity." 

Use  of  Fictitious  States 

Explanation  of  Lincoln's  re-election  would  be  in- 
complete without  details  of  his  use  of  fictitious 
States,  and  the  details  must  be  considered  at  some 
length. 

The  New  York  Times  of  January  11,  1902,  quotes 
Ben  Wade  as  denouncing  President  Lincoln's 
^^  promise  that  whenever  the  tenth  part  of  the  people 
of  a  State  came  back  he  would  recognize  them  as  a 
State."    And  the  Times  goes  on,  meaning  commen- 


214  THE  KEAL  LINCOLN 

dation,  not  censure,  of  Lincoln,  ^'It  was  under  this 
plan  .  .  .  that  Union  governments  were  in- 
augurated in  Tennessee,  Louisiana  and  Arkansas, 
the  first  two  of  which  participated  in  the  presidential 
election  of  1864,  and  all  before  the  close  of  the  war 
elected  members  to  Congress."  This  plan  was  de- 
nounced by  the  Hon.  H.  Winter  Davis,  stanchest 
of  Eepublicans,  and  Abolitionist,  as  follows,  in  the 
House : 

**It  is  not  surprising,  Mr.  Speaker,  that  the  Presi- 
dent, having  failed  to  sign  the  bill  passed  by  the 
whole  body  of  his  supporters  by  both  Houses,  at  the 
last  session  of  Congress,  and  having  assigned,  under 
pressure  of  events,  but  without  authority  of  law, 
reasons,  good  or  bad,  first  for  refusing  to  allow  the 
bill  to  become  a  law,  and  therefore  usurping  power 
to  execute  parts  of  it  as  law,  while  he  discarded 
other  parts  which  interfered  with  possible  electoral 
votes,  those  arguments  should  be  found  satisfactory 
to  some  minds  prone  to  act  upon  the  winking  of 
authority."  Then  Winter  Davis  goes  on,  about 
Louisiana's  then  representatives,  ^* Whose  represen- 
tatives are  theyf  ...  In  Louisiana  they  are 
the  representatives  of  the  bayonets  of  General 
Banks  and  the  will  of  the  President,  as  expressed  in 
his  secret  letter  to  General  Banks."  Then  Winter 
Davis  denounces  with  scorn  the  body  sitting  in 
Alexandria,  pretending  to  be  the  legislature  of  the 
State  of  Virginia.  He  calls  the  pretended  State  **a 
fringe  along  the  Potomac  and  the  sea,"  which,  he 
says,  '*has  just  sent  two  Senators  to  the  other 
House,  and  has  ratified  the  amendment  of  the  Con- 


THE  EEAL  LINCOLN  215 

stitution  of  the  United  States  abolishing  slavery  in 
all  the  rest  of  Virginia,  where  not  one  of  them  dares 
put  his  pretty  person. '^  And  Davis  goes  on,  ^'And 
so  Congress  has  dwindled  down  to  a  commission  to 
audit  accounts  and  to  appropriate  moneys  to  enable 
the  executive  to  execute  his  will,  and  not  ours." 

Usher  shows  {Reminiscences  of  Lincoln,  dc,  p. 
92  to  p.  94)  that  when  Montgomery  Blair  and  Se^ 
ward  objected  to  omitting  from  the  Emancipation 
Proclamation  the  thirteen  parishes  and  the  city  of 
New  Orleans  in  Louisiana,  and  the  counties  in  Vir- 
ginia near  Norfolk,  .  .  .  which  they  said  were 
the  very  heart  and  backbone  of  slavery,  Lincoln  ex- 
plained that  it  was  already  arranged  that  Congress- 
men were  to  come  to  Washington  from  these  regions, 
and  that  some  of  the  Congressmen  were  elected. 
Mr.  Chase  then  said,  **Very  true;  they  have  elected 
Hahn  and  Flanders,  but  they  have  not  got  their 
seats,  and  it  is  not  certain  they  will;"  that  Mr.  Lin- 
coln rose  from  his  seat,  apparently  irritated,  and 
walked  rapidly  back  and  forth  across  the  room. 
Looking  over  his  shoulder  at  Mr.  Chase,  he  said 
'*  There  it  is,  sir.  I  am  to  be  bullied  by  Congress, 
am  I?  If  I  do,  I'll  be  durned."  Nothing  more  was 
said.  Usher  says,  too,  that  a  month  or  more  there- 
after Hahn  and  Flanders  were  admitted  to  their 
seats.  Page  95  of  the  same  book  shows  that  a  man 
named  Hahn  was  the  first  Free-State  Governor  of 
Louisiana.  Rhodes  quotes  (Vol.  IV,  p.  484)  a  letter 
from  Lincoln  to  Michael  Hahn,  the  new  Governor  of 
Louisiana,  elected  under  Lincoln's  *^plan"  above 
described.    It  reads  as  follows: 


216  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

*  ^  Executive  Mansion,  "Washington,  March  13, 1864. 
Hon.  Michael  Hahn: 

My  dear  sir:  I  congratulate  you  upon  having 
fixed  your  name  in  history  as  the  first  free  State 
governor  of  Louisiana.  Now  you  are  about  to  have 
a  convention  which,  among  other  things,  will  prob- 
ably define  the  elective  franchise.  I  barely  suggest 
for  your  private  consideration  whether  some  of  the 
colored  people  may  not  be  let  in  as,  for  instance,  the 
very  intelligent  and  especially  those  who  have  fought 
gallantly  in  our  ranks.  They  would  probably  help, 
in  some  trying  time  to  come,  to  keep  the  jewel  of 
liberty  within  the  family  of  freedom.  But  this  is 
only  a  suggestion,  not  to  the  public,  but  to  you  alone. 

Yours  truly, 

A.  Lincoln.' 

Nicolay  and  Hay  (Abraham  Lincoln y  Vol.  IX,  p. 
436,  et  seq,)  describe  the  process  of  making  a  loyal 
State  out  of  Virginia — ^not  West  Virginia — as  fol- 
lows: **The  difficulty  of  effecting  reconstruction 
strictly  in  conformity  with  any  assumed  legal  or 
constitutional  theories  appears  clearly  enough  in 
the  case  of  Virginia,  .  .  .  when  the  spontane- 
ously chosen  Wheeling  Convention  of  August,  1861, 
repudiated  the  secession  ordinance  of  the  Eichmond 
Convention,  the  two  Houses  of  Congress  recognized 
the  restored  State  government  of  Virginia,  having 
Governor  Pierpoint  as  its  executive  head,  by  ad- 
mitting to  seats  the  Senators  sent  to  Washington  by 
the  reconstructed  Legislature,  and  the  representa- 

3  This  letter  is  found  in  Nicolay  and  Hay,  Vol.  8,  p.  434. 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  217 

tives  elected  by  popular  vote.  Full  reconstruction 
being  thus  recognized  by  both  executive  and  legis- 
lative departments  of  the  National  Government, 
.  .  .  West  Virginia  was  organized  and  admitted 
to  the  Union  as  a  separate  State.  .  .  .  Gover- 
nor Pierpoint,  with  the  archives  and  personnel  of 
the  reconstructed  State  government,  removed  from 
Wheeling  to  Alexandria.  .  .  .  But  while  the 
constitutional  theory  was  thus  fulfilled  and  perfect, 
the  practical  view  of  the  matter  certainly  presented 
occasion  for  serious  criticism.  The  State  govern- 
ment which  Governor  Pierpoint  brought  from 
Wheeling  to  Alexandria  could  make  no  very  impos- 
ing show  of  personal  influence,  official  emblems  or 
practical  authority.  The  territorial  limits  in  which 
it  could  pretend  to  exercise  its  functions  were  only 
such  as  lay  within  the  Union  military  lines ;  a  few 
counties  contiguous  to  Washington,  two  counties  on 
the  eastern  shore,  the  vicinage  of  Fort  Monroe  and 
the  cities  of  Norfolk  and  Portsmouth." 

Nicolay  and  Hay  go  on  (Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol. 
IX,  p.  438,  et  seq.)  to  show  how  Pierpoint  ** ven- 
tured upon  the  expedient  of  authorizing  the  election 
of  a  State  Convention,"  and  of  gathering  a  little 
Legislature  about  him  at  Alexandria ;  that  this  con- 
vention adopted  and  amended  a  constitution  for  Vir- 
ginia which,  among  other  things,  abolished  slavery. 
They  tell  how  Winter  Davis  sneered  at  it,  calling  it 
''the  common  council  of  Alexandria."  They  quote, 
without  dissent  or  comment,  a  ''pamphlet,"  which 
deals  as  follows  with  the  ratification  by  this  con- 
vention of  the  13th  amendment  to  the  Constitution 


218  THE  KEAL  LINCOLN 

of  the  United  States:  **And  while  this  ratification 
may  be  said  to  have  been,  like  Mercutio's  wound, 
'not  so  deep  as  a  well,  nor  so  wide  as  a  church  door,' 
it  effectually  served  to  make  up  the  necessary  num- 
ber of  twenty-seven  States  whose  action  made  the 
amendment  a  vital  part  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States."*  .  .  .  '* Under  this  ordinance 
and  amended  constitution  Governor  Pierpoint 
carried  on  his  administration,  clearly  not  with  the 
normal  health  and  vigor  of  an  average  State  gov- 
ernment, and  yet,  .  .  .  that  justified  its  con- 
tinued recognition  under  the  constitutional  theory 
under  which  the  President  and  Congress  had  recog- 
nized it  before  the  division  of  the  State." 

Nicolay  and  Hay  commend  Gen.  B.  F.  Butler's 
conduct  in  the  matters  for  which  he  has  been  most 
denounced — ^his  conduct  in  New  Orleans — and  they 
here  quote  (Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  IX,  p.  440)  his 
characterization  of  Pierpoint  as  follows:  .  .  . 
*^a  person  who  calls  himself  Governor,  .  .  . 
pretending  to  be  head  of  the  restored  government  of 
Virginia."  General  Butler  describes,  himself  (But- 
ler's Booh,  p.  618),  what  a  farce  this  fictitious  State 
was.  About  the  end  of  1863,  he  says,  '*The  army 
being  much  in  need  of  recruits,  and  Eastern  Vir- 

*  Nicolay  and  Hay  can  write  as  plain,  good  English  as  any  one.  The 
reader's  attention  is  invited  to  the  strait  in  which  they  find  themselves  to 
describe  without  censure  this  manufacture  of  Fictitious  States.  The  cities — 
Norfolk  and  Portsmouth — were  as  stanchly  faithful  to  the  Southern  cause 
as  Richmond  or  Charleston,  and  were  kept  under  by  such  methods  as  setting 
a  "disloyal"  clergyman  to  work  on  the  streets,  wearing  the  ball  and  chain  of 
a  convict.  It  was  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wingfield,  afterwards  Bishop  of  the  Diocese 
of  California.  The  use  of  these  Fictitious  States  that  might  have  been  made 
in  Lincoln's  second  election,  if  they  had  been  needed,  and  the  use  that  was 
made  of  one  of  them,  is  shown  by  Morse's  account  given  later. 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  219 

ginia  claiming  to  be  a  fully  organized  loyal  State, 
by  permission  of  the  President,  an  enrollment  of  all 
the  able-bodied  loyal  citizens  of  Virginia  within  my 
command,  was  ordered  for  the  purposes  of  a  draft 
when  one  should  be  called  for  in  the  other  loyal 
States.  This  order  was  vigorously  protested  against 
by  Governor  Pierpoint,  and  this  was  all  the  assist- 
ance the  United  States  ever  received  from  the  loyal 
government  of  Virginia  in  defending  the  State. 
My  predecessors  in  command  of  the  Department  of 
Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  with  headquarters  at 
Fortress  Monroe,  had  endeavored  to  recruit  a  regi- 
ment of  loyal  Virginians,  but  after  many  months  of 
energetic  trial,  both  by  them  and  by  myself,  the  at- 
tempt was  abandoned.  A  company  and  a  half  was 
all  that  State  would  furnish  to  the  Union,  and  these 
were  employed  in  defending  the  lighthouses  and  pro- 
tecting the  loyal  inhabitants  from  the  outrages  of 
their  immediate  neighbors." 

Morse  shows  {Lincoln,  Vol.  II,  p.  297)  that  Lin- 
coln withheld  until  February  8th  his  approval  of  a 
bill  passed  by  Congress  in  January,  that  forbade 
the  votes  of  any  of  the  eleven  seceded  States  from 
being  counted  in  the  election.  He  says  the  8th 
February  was  the  very  day  of  the  count,  and  the 
votes  of  Arkansas  and  Tennessee,  though  offered, 
were  not  counted.' 

Lincoln's  veto,  or  his  non-action,  would  have  en- 

^  In  answer  to  a  question  of  the  author,  the  Librarian  of  Congress  says,  in 
a  letter  of  May  6,  1903,  as  follows:  "On  the  8th  of  February,  1865,  the  votes 
were  opened  by  the  Vice-President,  Mr.  Hamlin,  and  read  by  the  tellers.  The 
Vice-President  had  in  his  possession  returns  from  the  States  of  Louisiana  and 
Tennessee,  but  did  not  present  the  doubtful  votes." 


I 


220  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

abled  him  to  use  their  votes,  but  the  other  methods 
described  in  this  chapter  had  accomplished  the  pur- 
pose, and  news  of  the  success  had  reached  him,  so 
that  there  was  no  need  for  more  votes.  Morse,  how- 
ever, adds  (Vol.  II,  p.  298),  **Yet  the  vote  of  Vv^est 
Virginia  was  counted,  and  it  was  not  easy  to  show 
that  her  title  was  not  under  a  legal  cloud  fully  as 
dark  as  that  of  Arkansas  and  Tennessee. '*  Dr.  E. 
Benjamin  Andrews  says  {History  of  the  United 
States,  Vol.  II,  p.  196,  et  seq.),  *^When  a  handful  of 
Virginia  loyalists,  in  the  summer  of  1861,  formed  a 
State  government  and  elected  national  Senators  and 
Eepresentatives,  President  and  Congress  recog- 
nized them  as  the  true  State  of  Virginia."  Dr. 
Andrews  says,  further  (Vol.  II,  p.  200),  '^  Every  se- 
cession State  but  Tennessee  rejected  the  amend- 
ment"— the  fourteenth — of  the  Constitution.  And 
here  he  gives,  in  a  note,  the  number  of  States  that 
voted  for  the  three  different  amendments,  and  adds 
the  following  very  significant  comment:  ''The 
States  rejecting  amendments,  in  every  such  instance, 
were  either  border  slave  States,  not  under  military 
control,  or  those  of  the  free  North  where  public 
sentiment  opposed  the  reconstruction  policy  of  Con- 
gress." 

Andrew  Johnson,  Military  Governor  of  Tennes- 
see, wrote,  January  14,  1864,  to  Horace  Maynard 
about  the  organization  of  a  loyal  State  of  Tennes- 
see as  follows :    (He  owed  Lincoln  already  his  gov- 
ernorship,   and    soon    after    the    Vice-presidency.) 

^War   of   the    Rebellion;    Official   Records    of   the    United    and    Confederate 
Armies,  Serial   No.   125,  p.   31. 


THE  REAL  LINCOLN  221 

**The  voters  in  March  should  be  put  to  the  severest 
test.  .  .  .  if  it  should  be  thought  advisable,  two 
Senators  could  be  appointed  now  who  are  sound  as 
regards  the  slavery  question  and  the  Union.  Will 
the  Senate  admit  them?  ...  I  would  give  some 
of  the  fault-finders  to  understand  that  the  real 
Union  men  will  be  for  Lincoln  for  President.  The 
war  must  be  closed  under  his  administration.  .  . 
I  desire  you  to  see  the  President  in  person  and 
talk  with  him  in  regard  to  these  matters." 

See  in  the  volume  last  referred  to,  at  page  194,  a 
very  similar  letter  addressed  to  Lincoln,  showing 
how  a  *4oyal  State"  was  set  up  in  Arkansas.  Lin- 
coln's ^^plan"  did  not  meet  General  Grant's  ap- 
proval, for  we  have  in  the  same  volume  above 
referred  to,  at  page  734,  his  letter  to  the  Secretary, 
Stanton,  September  20,  1864,  from  City  Point,  Va., 
*^ Please  advise  the  President  not  to  attempt  to 
doctor  up  a  State  government  for  Georgia  by  the 
appointment  of  citizens  in  any  capacity  whatever." 

This  creation  and  use'  of  fictitious  States  is  plainly 
dealt  with  further  by  Morse  also  (Lincoln,  Vol.  II, 
p.  295  to  p.  298),  Lincoln's  re-election  by  an  exceed- 
ingly large  majority  has  been  triumphantly  alleged 
and  is  adduced  as  proof  that  what  he  had  done  and 
was  doing  had  the  approval  of  the  North  and  the 
West.  That  the  vote  of  the  electoral  college  should 
be  recorded  for  Lincoln  was  quite  inevitable  in  view 
of  what  the  witnesses  quoted  in  this  sketch  have  re- 
corded of  the  political  and  military  management  of 
affairs,  at  election-time  and  long  before,  in  the  bor- 
der States,  in  Indiana,  Illinois,  Ohio,  and  New  York; 


222  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

in  great  cities  like  Chicago,  New  York,  and  Boston, 
and  in  the  country  at  large,  as  far  as  Seward's 
*4ittle  bell"  could  reach.  But  with  all  the  odds 
against  McClellan  that  have  been  shown,  the  actual 
number  of  votes  gotten  by  McClellan  was  more  than 
eighty-one  per  cent,  of  the  actual  number  of  votes 
gotten  by  Lincoln,^  although  McClellan  was  fully 
committed  against  emancipation,  and  the  Demo- 
cratic platform  said  the  war  must  cease. 

'  The  figures  by  which,  this  percentage  is  ascertained  are  furnished  by  the 
Peabody  Library  in  Baltimore. 


APPENDIX  A 

ADAMS,  CHARLES  FRANCIS  (the  father),  was  Minis- 
ter to  England  during  Lincoln's  whole  administration. 
He  was  of  the  family  that  had  given  two  Presidents  to 
the  United  States,  and  his  father  and  his  grandfather 
had  been  Ministers  to  England  before  him. 

ADAMS,  CHARLES  FRANCIS,  son  of  the  above,  served 
in  the  Union  Army  throughout  the  "War  between  the 
States,  and  became  brevet  Brigadier-General  of  Volun- 
teers— -later  President  of  Massachusetts  Historical  So- 
ciety. His  extreme  partisan  attitude  is  shown  by  the 
extract  below  from  his  address  in  Chicago,  as  late  as 
June  17,  1902:  **As  to  those  who  sympathized  with 
the  deliberate  disunion  policy,  and  in  the  councils  of 
the  government  plotted  for  its  overthrow,  while  sworn 
to  its  support,  Mr.  Adams  held  that  it  was  unnecessary 
to  speak.  'Such  were  traitors,'  says  he,  and  *if  they 
had  had  their  deserts  they  would  have  been  hanged.' 
That  in  certain  *  well-remembered  instances  this  course 
was  not  pursued  is  to  my  mind  even  yet  much  to  be 
deplored,'  "  he  adds. 

ANDREWS,  E.  BENJAMIN,  once  President  of  Brown 
University,  is  still  prominent  in  educational  work.  He 
shows  in  his  History  of  the  United  States  (Vol.  II, 
pages  64,  77,  81  et  seq.)  that  he  is  an  ardent  Abolition- 
ist and  an  admirer  of  Lincoln;  calls  John  Brown  (p. 
61,  et  seq.)  '*a  misguided  hero,"  and  perverts  history 
so  wildly  as  to  say  (p.  89)  that  '' Virginia  and  Ten- 

223 


224  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

nessee  were  finally  carried  into  secession  by  the  aid  of 
troops  who  swarmed  in  from,  the  seceded  States,  and 
turned  the  elections  into  a  farce.  Unionists  in  the 
Virginia  Convention  were  given  the  choice  to  vote  se- 
cession, leave,  or  be  hanged.  Missouri,  Kentucky, 
Delaware  and  Maryland  resisted  all  attempts  to  drag 
them  into  the  Confederacy."     .     .     . 

ASHE,  SAMUEL  A 'COURT,  who  condensed  the  article 
** Lincoln  and  Democracy"  by  Paul  S.  Whitcomb,  ap- 
pearing as  Appendix  C  in  this  edition  and  supplied 
the  footnotes  thereto,  is  recognized  as  an  authority  on 
North  Carolina  and  Southern  history.  He  is  the  au- 
thor of  ^'A  History  of  North  Carolina"  in  two 
volumes.  He  edited  six  volumes  of  Van  Noppen's 
*' Biographical  History  of  North  Carolina."  Capt. 
Ashe  was  for  several  years  editor  of  The  Raleigh 
(N.  C.)  News  and  Observer.  He  has  been  throughout 
life  a  close  student  of  history  and  has  written  much 
on  historical  subjects.     He  lives  at  Raleigh,  N.  C. 

BURGESS,  JOHN  W.,  Ph.  D.,  LL.D.,  is  now  (1904)  Pro- 
fessor of  Political  Science  in  Columbia  University.  He 
says  in  his  Civil  War  and  Constitution  that  **  absolute 
truthfulness  was  the  fundamental  principle  of  his 
(Lincoln's)  character,"  and  that  ''he  was  on  the  in- 
side a  true  gentleman,  although  the  outward  polish 
failed  him  almost  completely." 

BUTLER,  GENERAL  B.  F.,  was  made  by  Lincoln  Major- 
General  and  one  of  General  Grant's  corps  command- 
ers, and  was  Lincoln's  first  choice  for  Vice-President 
in  his  second  election. 


APPENDIX  225 

BEECHER,  REV.  HENRY  WARD,  brother  of  Harriet 
Beecher  Stowe,  was  a  strong  Republican  and  Abolition- 
ist, and  a  very  prominent  supporter  of  the  war. 

BOUTWELL,  GEORGE  S.,  was  in  Congress  from  Massa- 
chusetts, aided  in  organizing  the  Republican  party  in 
1854,  and  in  procuring  Lincoln's  election,  and  was 
made  by  Lincoln  the  first  Commissioner  of  the  Internal 
Revenue.  (See  name  of  Rice.)  Boutwell's  whole 
paper,  and  notably  in  the  last  pages,  is  full  of  the 
most  ardent  eulogies  of  Lincoln,  strong  and  unquali- 
fied as  any  other. 

BROOKS,  PHILLIPS,  Bishop  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  in  Massachusetts,  His  Life  and  Letters  by 
Alexander  Y.  G.  Allen  (New  York,  E.  P.  Dutton, 
1900)  Vol.  II,  p.  9  says,  *'In  Philadelphia  he  had  ap- 
peared almost  as  a  reformer  and  agitator,  with  a  work 
to  do  outside  of  the  pulpit,  which  rivalled  in  impor- 
tance and  popular  interest  his  work  as  a  preacher.  He 
had  thrown  himself  into  the  cause  of  the  abolition  of 
slavery  with  an  intensity  and  rare  eloquence  which  was 
not  surpassed  by  any  one.  He  had  espoused  the  cause 
of  the  emancipated  slaves,  pleading  in  most  impas- 
sioned manner  for  their  right  to  suffrage  in  order  to 
complete  their  manhood.  .  .  .  From  his  activity 
in  these  moral  causes  he  had  become  as  widely  known, 
as  by  his  eloquence  in  the  pulpit."  For  evidence  {Life 
and  Letters  by  Allen,  Vol.  I,  p.  531)  of  his  partisan- 
ship, see  a  prayer  he  made  in  the  streets  of  Phila- 
delphia on  the  downfall  of  the  Confederacy.  In  the 
large  page  and  a  half  there  is  not  a  reference  to 
the  miseries  of  the  defeated  nor  an  aspiration  for  the 
amendment  of  their  condition,  physical  or  spiritual. 


226  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

CHANDLER,  ZACHARIAH,  SENATOR,  was  one  of  the 
organizers  of  the  Republican  party  in  1854;  United 
States  Senator  from  1857  to  1877;  Secretary  of  the 
Interior.  Appleton's  Cyclopaedia  of  American  Biog- 
raphy calls  him  *  *  a  firm  friend  of  President  Lincoln. '  * 

CHANNING,  EDWARD,  Professor  of  History  in  Har- 
vard, and  author  of  Short  History  of  the  United 
States,  quotations  from  which  show  his  partisanship. 

CHASE,  SALMON  P.,  was  Lincoln's  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  till  made  by  him  Chief  Justice. 

CHESNEY,  CAPT.  C.  C,  Royal  Engineers,  Professor  of 
Military  History,  Sandhurst  College,  England,  pub- 
lished in  1863  A  Military  View  of  Eecent  Campaigns 
in  Virginia  and  Maryland. 

COFFEE,  TITIAN  J.,  says  of  Lincoln  {Reminiscences  of 
Lincoln,  p.  246)  .  .  .  ^'The  better  his  character 
and  conduct  are  understood,  the  brighter  will  he  shine 
among  those  names  that  the  world  will  not  wiUingly 
let  die.'' 

COGGINS,  DR.  J.  C,  author  of  *' Abraham  Lincoln  a 
North  Carolinian,  With  Proof"  (see  chapter  III)  na- 
tive of  Buncombe  county,  N.  C,  attended  school  in 
his  father's  still  house  on  Bee  Tree,  educated  Milligan 
College,  Tenn.,  Grant  University  and  American  Uni- 
versity, receiving  his  Ph.  D.  from  last  named  institu- 
tion. Was  licensed  to  practice  law  by  Supreme  Court 
of  North  Carolina.  First  president  Atlantic  Christian 
College  and  author  of  **A  New  Philosophy,  or  the  Soul 
of  Things,"  *' Christ's  Place  in  the  Old  Testament,  or 


APPENDIX  227 

Voices  of  Hebrew  Prophets"  and  ''The  Star  Crowned 
Woman. ' ' 

CURTIS,  GEORGE  WILLIAM,  long  editor  of  Harper's 
Weekly,  was  a  widely  known  scholar  and  author.  The 
quotations  from  his  pen  show  how  he  stood  towards 
the  war  and  Abolition.  His  prejudice  was  bitter 
enough  to  make  him  institute  {Orations  and  Addresses, 
Vol.  Ill,  p.  10)  a  parallel  between  Robert  E.  Lee  and 
Benedict  Arnold;  and  he  must  be  accounted  an  un- 
willing witness,  since  he  adds  (Vol.  Ill,  p.  219), 
** Heaven  knows  I  speak  it  with  no  willingness,"  after 
his  testimony  that  is  quoted  of  his  own  people's  resist- 
ance to  emancipation  and  to  coercion. 

CRITTENDEN,  L.  E.,  was  Register  of  the  Treasury.  The 
words  quoted  show  his  attitude  toward  Lincoln. 

DANA,  CHARLES  A.,  was  long  managing  editor  of  the 
New  York  Tribune,  took  an  important  part  in  procur- 
ing Lincoln's  election  and  was  his  Assistant  Secretary 
of  War.  See  his  book,  Recollections  of  the  Civil  War, 
with  the  Leaders  at  Washington,  etc.,  N.  Y.  Appleton 
&  Co.,  1898. 

DANA,  RICHARD  H.,  was  a  distinguished  author  and 
law-writer,  was  nominated  by  President  Grant  for 
Minister  to  England,  and  was  a  representative  of  the 
best  culture  of  Massachusetts.  It  was  he  who  pro- 
posed, in  Faneuil  Hall,  to  hold  the  Southern  States 
*'in  the  grasp  of  war  for  thirty  years." 

DAVIS,  HENRY  WINTER,  though  a  Marylander,  was 
an  ardent  supporter  in  Congress  of  the  war  and  of 
emancipation. 


228  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

DAVIS,  DAVID,  is  named  by  McClure  in  his  Lincoln  with 
Leonard  Swett,  "Ward  H.  Lamon  and  William  H.  Hern- 
don  as  one  of  the  four  men  ''closest  to  Lincoln  before 
and  after  his  election/'  He  was  made  by  Lincoln  one 
of  the  Supreme  Court  Justices,  and  finally  executor 
of  his  estate. 

DAWES,  HENRY  L.,  represented  Massachusetts  in  the 
House  for  nine  sessions,  beginning  in  1857 ;  succeeded 
Sumner  in  the  Senate,  and  continued  there  till  he  de- 
clined re-election  in  1893. 

DEPEW,  CHAUNCEY,  says  in  Remimscences  of  Lincoln, 
etc.,  that  Lincoln  was  ''among  the  few  supremely 
great  men  this  country  has  produced.'' 

DOUGLASS,  FREDERICK,  was  one  of  the  most  honored 
and  respected  colored  men  during  his  long  life,  with 
everything  to  prejudice  him  in  favor  of  Lincoln. 

DUNNING,  E.  0.,  was  chaplain  in  the  Union  army.  His 
words  quoted  show  his  attitude. 

DUNNING,  WILLIAM  ARCHIBALD,  Professor  of  His- 
tory in  Columbia  University,  in  his  Essays  on  the  Civil 
War  and  Reconstruction,  pictures  with  merciless  exul- 
tation (pages  247  to  252)  the  years  of  humiliation  and 
torture  imposed  on  the  South  during  the  ' '  reconstruc- 
tion." 

EVERETT,  EDWARD,  had  been  Minister  to  England, 
and  was  such  another  man  as  Richard  H.  Dana,  rank- 
ing even  higher;  was  in  the  House  or  the  Senate,  or 


APPENDIX  229 

Secretary  of  State,  or  Governor,  or  President  of  Har- 
vard for  twenty-nine  years,  and  then  candidate  for 
Vice-President. 

FISKE,  JOHN,  historian  and  lecturer.  His  Old  Virginia 
and  Her  Neighbors  shows  his  Northern  bias. 

FOWLKE,  WILLIAM  DUDLEY,  shows  in  his  words 
quoted  his  partisan  attitude. 

FREMONT,  J.  C,  ran  against  Buchanan  as  ''Free-Soil" 
candidate  for  the  presidency.  As  Major-General  he 
proclaimed  freedom  to  the  negroes  in  his  command 
before  Lincoln's  Emancipation  Proclamation.  Schou- 
ler  attributes  to  him  (History  of  the  United  States, 
Vol.  VI,  p.  98)  '^  patriotism,  integrity  and  humane 
sentiment."  The  title  page  of  the  pamphlet  quoted 
is  as  follows:  *'Fund  Publication,  No.  27.  President 
Lincoln  and  the  Chicago  Memorial  on  Emancipation; 
a  paper  read  before  the  Maryland  Historical  Society 
of  December  12,  1887,  by  Rev.  W.  W.  Patton,  D.  D., 
LL,  D.,  President  of  Howard  University,  Baltimore, 
1888." 

FRENCH,  WILLIAM  M.,  shows  in  his  words  quoted  his 
partisan  attitude. 

FRY,  MAJ.-GEN.  JAS.  B.,  provost  marshal  of  United 
States.     See  Allen  Thorndyke  Rice,  chapter  III. 

GARRISON,  WILLIAM  LLOYD.  The  Dictionary  of  the 
United  States  History,  1492-1894,  by  J.  Franklin 
Jamison,   Ph.D.,    says,   *' Garrison's  influence   in   the 


230  THE  KEAL  LINCOLN 

anti-slavery  cause  was  greater  than  that  of  any  other 
man;"  started  Liberator  newspaper  in  1831,  and  ran 
it  till  1865. 

GAY,  SIDNEY  HOWAED,  became,  in  1844,  editor  of  the 
Anti-Slavery  Standard.  Senator  Henry  Wilson 
speaks  of  him  as  the  man  who  deserved  well  of  his 
country  because  he  kept  the  New  York  Tribune  a  war 
paper  in  spite  of  its  owner,  Horace  Greeley. 

GILMORE,  JAMES  R.  Appleton's  Encyclopaedia  says 
that  a  mission  to  Jefferson  Davis  made  by  Gilmore  had 
the  effect  of  assuring  the  re-election  of  Lincoln. 

GODKIN,  E.  L.,  was  long  and  until  lately  the  able  and 
useful  editor  of  the  Nation,  but  was  utterly  intolerant 
as  to  all  that  concerns  secession  and  slavery. 

GORHAM,  G.  C,  author  of  a  late  life  of  Stanton,  which 
shows  in  what  is  quoted  his  partisan  attitude. 

GRANT,  U.  S.,  General  and  President,  is  obviously  the 
most  trustworthy  of  all  witnesses  in  the  matters  about 
which  he  is  quoted. 

GREELEY,  HORACE.  A.  K.  McClure  calls  {Our  Presi- 
dents and  How  We  Make  Them,  p.  243)  Greeley  ''one 
of  the  noblest,  purest  and  ablest  of  the  great  men  of 
the  land;"  calls  Greeley's  Tribune  (p.  155)  ''then  the 
most  influential  journal  ever  published  in  this  coun- 
try," and  says  (Lincoln  and  Men  of  the  War  Time, 
p.  225  and  p.  295),  "Greeley  was  in  closer  touch  with 
the  active,  loyal  sense  of  the  people  than  even  the 


APPENDIX  231 

President  (Lincoln)  himself,"  and  that  ''Mr.  Gree- 
ley's Tribune  was  the  most  widely  read  Republican 
journal  in  the  country,  and  it  was  unquestionably  the 
most  potent  in  modelling  Republican  sentiment.  It 
reached  the  intelligent  masses  of  the  people  in  every 
State  in  the  Union.''  Again  McClure  says  (p.  300), 
''Greeley  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Republican 
party,  and  did  more  to  make  it  successful  than  any 
other  one  man  of  the  nation."  .  .  .  Dr.  E.  Ben- 
jamin Andrews  says,^  "Greeley  and  his  party  were 
the  chief  founders  of  the  Republican  party,  and  the 
most  effective  moulders  of  its  policy.  The  influence 
of  the  paper  before  and  during  the  war  was  incalcu- 
lable, far  exceeding  that  of  any  other  sheet  in 
America.  Hardly  a  Whig  or  Republican  voter  in  all 
the  North  that  did  not  take  or  read  it.  It  gave  tone 
to  the  minor  organs  of  its  party,  and  no  politicians 
upon  either  side  acted  upon  slavery  without  consider- 
ing what  the  Tribune  would  say."  Gilmore  {Recollec- 
tions of  Lincoln,  p.  54)  has  a  letter  from  Lincoln  to 
Robert  J.  Walker,  which  says  of  Horace  Greeley :  ' '  He 
is  a  great  power ;  having  him  firmly  behind  me  will  be 
as  helpful  to  me  as  an  army  of  an  hundred  thousand 
men."  Channing  {Short  History  of  the  United  States, 
p.  300)  calls  Greeley  "one  of  the  ablest  men  of  the 
time." 

HALE,  EDWARD  EVERETT,  of  Boston,  well-known  au- 
thor and  editor ;  a  strong  partisan  of  the  North. 

HAMLIN,  HANNIBAL,  was  Lincoln's  Vice-President. 


*  Edward  Everett  Hale  in  James  Russell  Lowell,  His  Friends,  dc,  pp.  174-5. 
^History  of  the  Last  Quarter  Century  in  the  United  States,  Vol.  II.,  p.  58. 


232  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

HAPGOOD,  NORMAN.  His  Abraham  Lincoln  is  the  lat- 
est important  biography,  published  in  1899.  It  shows 
the  author's  attitude  of  admiration  for  Lincoln  in  the 
first  page  of  the  preface,  declaring  that  he  was  ''un- 
equalled since  Washington  in  service  to  the  nation," 
and  quoting  the  verses — 

He  was  the  North,  the  South,  the  East,  the  West; 

The  thrall,  the  master,  all  of  us  in  one. 
See  under  names  of  Herndon  and  of  Lamon  his  en- 
dorsement of  their  ''revelations." 

HAY,  JOHN,  Secretary  of  State  under  McKinley  and 
Roosevelt,  came  from  Springfield  with  Lincoln,  and 
was  his  private  secretary,  as  Nicolay  was,  to  his  death. 
Their  joint  work,  Abraham  Lincoln,  in  ten  large  vol- 
umes, makes  the  most  favorable  presentation  of  Lincoln 
of  all  that  have  been  made.  They  are  the  editors,  too, 
of  the  only  collection  of  Lincoln's  complete  works. 
See  the  name  of  Nicolay  in  this  Appendix. 

HERNDON,  WILLIAM  H.  His  Lincoln,  dated  1888,  sets 
forth  on  the  title  page  that  Lincoln  was  for  twenty 
years  his  friend  and  law  partner,  and  says  in  the 
preface  (p.  10)  :  "Mr.  Lincoln  was  my  warm,  devoted 
friend;  I  always  loved  him,  and  I  revere  his  name  to- 
day." He  quotes  with  approval  and  reaffirms  La- 
mon's  views  as  to  the  duty  to  tell  the  faults  along  with 
the  virtues,  and  says  in  the  preface  (p.  10)  :  "At  last 
the  truth  will  come  out,  and  no  man  need  hope  to 
evade  it;"  and  he  betrays  his  sense  of  the  seriousness 
of  the  faults  he  has  to  record  by  calling  them  in  the 
preface  (p.  9)  "ghastly  exposures,"  and  by  saying  in 
the  preface  (p.  8)  that  to  conceal  them  would  be  as  if 
the  Bible  had  concealed  the  facts  about  Uriah  in  tell- 


APPENDIX  233 

ing  the  story  of  King  David;  and  the  very  latest 
biographer,  Hapgood,  writing  with  all  the  light  yet 
given  to  the  world,  says  in  his  preface  (p.  8)  :  ''Hern- 
don  has  told  the  President's  early  life  with  a  refresh- 
ing honesty  and  with  more  information  than  any  one 
else/'  Morse,  the  next  latest  biographer,  also  com- 
mends Herndon's  dealing  in  this  matter.  See,  too,  on 
page  2  of  this  book,  Horace  White's  testimony,  that 
''The  world  owes  more  to  Mr.  Wm.  H.  Herndon,  for 
this  particular  knowledge" — that  is  of  his  life  before 
he  was  President — "than  to  all  other  persons."  See, 
in  this  Appendix,  under  Swett's  name  how  Herndon 's 
extraordinarily  close  relations  with  Mr.  Lincoln  are 
shown,  and  see  under  Lamon's  name  how  Herndon 's 
testimony  and  Lamon's  have  gone  uncontradicted. 
Students  need  to  be  warned  of  a  discovery  made  by  the 
author  since  the  first  edition  of  The  Beat  Lincoln  was 
published.  The  genuine  book  of  Herndon  about  Lin- 
coln is  still  (1902)  to  be  found  in  the  Pratt  Library 
and  the  Peabody  Library  of  Baltimore,  and  in  the 
Congressional  Library  in  Washington,  in  three  vol- 
umes, and  is  entitled  as  follows:  " Herndon 's  'Lincoln; 
The  True  Story  of  a  Great  Life.'  (Etiam  in  minimis 
major.)  'The  History  and  Personal  Recollections  of 
Abraham  Lincoln,'  by  William  H.  Herndon,  for 
Twenty  Years  His  Friend  and  Partner,  and  Jesse  Wil- 
liam Weik,  A.  M.,  Chicago,  New  York  and  San 
Francisco.  Bedford,  Clarke  &  Co.,  Publishers,  Lon- 
don. Henry  J.  Drane,  Lovel's  Court,  Paternoster 
row."  The  quotations  above  given  of  Herndon 's 
avowal  of  his  purpose  to  conceal  nothing,  come  from 
this  book.  In  place  of  this  genuine  book  another  has 
been  substituted,  in  two  volumes,  with  the  same  title 
page,  except  that  it  is  published  by  D.  Appleton  &  Co. 


234  THE  KEAL  LINCOLN 

There  is  an  introduction  by  Horace  White,  but  no  inti- 
mation of  the  suppression  of  any  part  of  the  work  of 
Herndon,  and  his  avowals  of  his  purpose  to  tell  all, 
good  and  bad,  about  his  hero,  are  copied  as  above  from 
the  genuine  book.  Every  word,  however,  of  the 
*' revelations"  and  *' ghastly  exposures"  is  suppressed. 
Without  acknowledgment  of  any  omission,  five  pages 
of  the  genuine  book  (beginning  with  the  second  line 
of  fiftieth  page  of  the  first  volume)  are  omitted.  In 
these  pages  Herndon  records  a  satire  written  by  Lin- 
coln, called  ''The  First  Chronicle  of  Reuben,"  and 
describes  the  exceedingly  base  and  indecent  device  by 
which  Lincoln  brought  about  the  events  which  gave 
opportunity  for  the  satire  and  adds  some  verses  writ- 
ten and  circulated  by  Lincoln  which  he  considers  even 
more  vile  than  the  ''Chronicle."  Of  these  verses 
Lamon  says,  "It  is  impossible  to  transcribe  them." 
Leland  ( Abraham  Lincoln,  etc.,  pp.  12  and  13)  quotes 
Lamon  and  Herndon,  and  calls  (p.  42)  Herndon  "a 
most  estimable  man,  to  whose  researches  the  world 
owes  nearly  all  that  is  known  of  Lincoln's  early  life 
and  family."  Yet  Leland  gives  a  list  of  the  authori- 
ties he  uses  and  omits  from  it  both  Lamon  and  Hern- 
don. In  like  manner  some  influence  has  caused  the 
American  Encyclopaedia  of  Biography  to  omit  Hern- 
don and  Lamon. 

HOLLAND,  J.  G.,  was  a  popular  author,  and  was  long 
editor  of  Scrihner's  Magazine.  For  his  ardent  admira- 
tion of  Lincoln,  see  the  last  page  of  his  Abraham 
Lincoln. 

HUNTER,  DAVID,  was  made  Major-General  by  Lincoln, 
and  was  one  of  the  most  ardent  Abolitionists. 


APPENDIX  235 

JULIAN,  GEORGE  W.,  says  (Reminiscences  of  Lincoln, 
etc.,  p.  64),  ''Every  lineament  of  his  grand  public 
career  should  have  the  setting  of  his  rare  personal 
worth.  In  all  the  qualities  that  go  to  make  up  char- 
acter, he  was  a  thoroughly  genuine  man.  His  sense 
of  justice  was  perfect  and  ever  present.  His  integrity 
was  second  only  to  Washington's,  and  his  ambition 
was  as  stainless." 

KASSON,  JOHN  ADAMS,  was  a  conspicuous  Republican 
in  Congress,  honored  by  Lincoln  with  important  as- 
signments at  home  and  abroad  in  the  Post-Office  De- 
partment. 

KEIFER,  JOSEPH  WARREN,  was  Major-General  of 
Volunteers;  was  member  of  Congress  from  Ohio  and 
Speaker  of  the  House ;  in  1900  wrote  Slavery  and  Four 
Years  of  War,  G.  P.  Putnam,  publisher,  which  book 
shows  his  partisan  attitude. 

LAMON,  WARD  H. ;  published  his  Life  of  Lincoln  in 
1872.  He  appears  in  the  accounts  of  Mr.  Lincoln's 
life  in  the  West  as  constantly  associated  in  the  most 
friendly  relations  with  him.  He  accompanied  the 
family  in  the  journey  to  Washington,  and  was  selected 
by  Lincoln  himself  (see  McClure's  Lincoln,  p.  46)  as 
the  one  protector  to  accompany  and  to  guard  him  from 
the  assassination  that  he  apprehended  so  causelessly 
(see  Lamon's  Lincoln,  p.  513)  in  his  midnight  passage 
through  Baltimore  to  his  first  inauguration.  He  was 
made  a  United  States  Marshal  of  the  District  in  order 
(McClure's  Lincoln,  p.  67)  that  Lincoln  might  have 
him  always  at  hand.  Schouler  (History  of  the  United 
States,  p.  614)   says  that  Lamon  as  Marshal  ^'made 


236  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

himself  body-guard  to  the  man  he  loved. '*  Though 
Lamon  recognizes  and  sets  forth  with  great  clearness 
(p.  181)  his  duty  to  tell  the  whole  truth,  good  and  bad, 
and  especially  (p.  486,  et  seq.)  to  correct  the  state- 
ments of  indiscreet  admirers  who  have  tried  to  make 
Lincoln  out  a  religious  man,  and,  though  he  indig- 
nantly remonstrates  against  such  stories  as  making  his 
hero  a  hypocrite,  the  book  shows  an  exceedingly  high 
estimate  of  the  friend  of  his  lifetime.  Dorothy  Lamon 
(Recollections  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  p.  168)  quotes 
Lamon 's  own  words  as  follows :  ' '  It  was  my  good  for- 
tune to  have  known  Mr.  Lincoln  long  and  well — so 
long  and  so  intimately  that,  as  the  shadows  lengthen 
and  the  years  recede,  I  am  more  and  more  impressed 
by  the  rugged  grandeur  and  nobility  of  his  character, 
his  strength  and  intellect  and  his  singular  purity  of 
heart.  Surely  I  am  the  last  man  on  earth  to  say  or 
do  aught  in  derogation  of  his  matchless  worth,  or  to 
criticise  the  fair  fame  of  him  who  was,  during  eighteen 
of  the  most  eventful  years  of  my  life,  a  constant,  con- 
siderate, and  never-failing  friend."  Both  Morse  and 
Hapgood  commend  Lamon  and  Herndon  for  their 
''revelations.'^  The  careful  search  in  many  records 
for  the  material  for  this  book  has  not  found  a  single 
attempt  to  deny  the  truth  of  Herndon 's  testimony,  or 
of  Lamon 's.  But  the  search  did  find  a  curious  proof 
of  the  strait  to  which  some  one  has  been  driven  to 
conceal  Lamon 's  testimony.  In  the  Pratt  Library  in 
Baltimore,  Maryland,  is  a  book  with  a  title  as  follows : 
'^Recollections  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  1847-1865,  by 
Ward  Hill  Lamon,  edited  by  Dorothy  Lamon,  Chicago, 
A.  E.  McClurg  &  Co.,  1895."  Nowhere  in  this  book 
of  several  hundred  pages  is  found  an  intimation  of  the 
fact  that  the  same  Ward  Hill  Lamon  published  in 


APPENDIX  237 

1872  the  Life  of  Lincoln  quoted  frequently  in  this 
book,  or  that  he  had  published  any  book  about  Lincoln, 
and  although  these  "Recollections^^  do  contain  the 
avowal  that  appears  in  the  Life  of  Lincoln^  that  La- 
mon  thinks  it  his  duty  to  conceal  none  of  the  faults  of 
his  hero,  every  word  is  omitted  of  the  ** revelations" 
and  ''ghastly  exposures"  about  Lincoln's  attitude  to- 
wards morals  and  religion  that  are  recorded  in  La- 
mon's  genuine  book.  Bancroft,  in  his  very  lately 
published  Life  of  Seward,  quotes  (Vol.  II,  p.  42) 
Lamon  from  this  late  book,  making  no  reference  to 
the  genuine  book,  and  a  paper  in  the  Baltimore  Sun 
of  February  25,  1901,  does  the  same.  See  in  this  Ap- 
pendix what  is  said  under  the  names  of  Herndon  and 
Swett. 

LELAND,  CHARLES  GODFREY,  is  author  of  a  book 
once  very  popular,  Hans  Breitman's  Ballads.  In  his 
Abraham  Lincoln,  and  the  Abolition  of  Slavery  in  the 
United  States  (G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  New  York,  1881), 
he  says  (Author's  Preface,  p.  2),  ''Lincoln's  career 
also  proves  that  extremes  meet,  since  in  no  despotism 
is  there  an  example  of  any  one  who  governed  a  coun- 
try so  thoroughly  in  detail  as  did  this  Republican  of 
Republicans."  For  Leland's  bitter  partisanship,  see 
pp.  109,  121,  122,  186,  200,  202  and  220  to  222. 

LOCKE,  DAVID  R.  (Petroleum  V.  Nasby).  Born  in  New 
York  in  1863 ;  an  American  political  satirist ;  author 
of  Nasby 's  letters,  after  1860,  in  Toledo  Blade. 

LOGAN,  JOHN  A.,  Major-General.  His  book  about  the 
war.  The  Great  Conspiracy,  shows  throughout,  as  in 
its  title,  his  partisan  attitude.    He  served  under  Grant 


238  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

at  Vieksburg,  and  under  Sherman  in  Georgia;  was 
unsuccessful  Republican  candidate  for  vice-presidency 
in  1864. 

LOWELL,  JAS.  RUSSELL,  long  professor  in  Harvard; 
editor  of  Atlantic  Monthly,  1857  to  1862,  and  of  the 
North  American  Review,  1863  to  1872;  Minister  to 
Spain  and  to  England. 

MARKLAND,  A.  H.,  was  a  supporter  of  Mr.  Lincoln  for 
the  presidency  the  first  time;  was  in  charge  of  the 
army  mail  service,  and  was  Commission-Colonel  on 
General  Grant's  staff  in  November,  1863.  He  was  the 
only  person  besides  President  Lincoln  and  General 
Grant  who  ever  had  authority  to  pass  at  will  through 
all  the  armies  of  the  United  States,  thereby  showing 
the  confidential  relations  between  him  and  the  Presi- 
dent and  General  Grant. 

McCarthy,  CHARLES  H.,  is  author  of  Lincoln's  Plan 
of  Reconstruction.  Page  497  in  eulogy  of  Lincoln  no- 
where surpassed. 

McCLURE,  A.  K.  In  his  Lincoln  and  Men  of  the  War 
Time,  and  in  his  Our  Presidents  and  How  We  Make 
Them,  the  author's  intimate  association  with  Lincoln 
is  shown  in  many  places  {Lincoln,  p.  112,  et  seq.),  and 
his  attitude  towards  his  hero  may  be  measured  by  the 
following  tribute  (p.  5  et  seq.)  :  *'He  has  written  the 
most  illustrious  records  of  American  history,  and  his 
name  and  fame  must  be  immortal  while  liberty  shall 
have  worshippers  in  our  land.'* 

McCULLOCH,  HUGH,  author  of  3Ien  and  Measures  of 
Half  a  Century,  was  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  under 


APPENDIX  239 

Lincoln,  Johnson  and  Grant.  He  attributes  to  Lincoln 
(Reminiscences  of  His  Associates,  p.  424)  ''Unwaver- 
ing adlierencee  to  the  principles  which  he  avowed — 
.  .  .  personal  righteousness —  .  .  .  love  of 
country —     .     .     .     humanity —     ...     " 

MORSE,  JOHN  T.,  published  in  1892  by  Houghton,  Mif- 
flin &  Co.,  his  Lincoln,  one  of  the  American  Statesmen 
Series.  It  shows  throughout,  but  notably  in  the  last 
four  pages,  as  ardent  an  admiration  for  Lincoln  as 
any  other  biography.  It  concedes  (Vol.  I,  p.  192) 
the  truth  of  the  ''revelations  of  Messrs.  Herndon  and 
Lamon'*  and  the  duty  and  necessity  that  rested  on 
them  to  record  these  truths.  Morse  is  next  to  the  lat- 
est of  the  biographers.  The  Harvard  Graduates' 
Magazine  said  of  the  book:  "As  a  life  of  Lincoln  it 
has  no  competitors ;  as  a  political  history  of  the  Union 
side  during  the  Civil  War,  it  is  the  most  comprehen- 
sive and,  in  proportion  to  its  range,  the  most  com- 
plete.'' 

NICOLA Y,  JOHN  G.  (like  John  Hay),  came  with  Lin- 
coln from  Springfield,  and  was  his  private  secretary  to 
the  end.  In  the  Author's  Preface  to  the  great  work — 
Abraham  Lincoln — written  by  him  and  John  Hay  (see 
his  name  in  this  Appendix),  is  found  the  following 
(Vol.  I,  p.  9)  :  "It  is  the  almost  unbroken  testimony 
of  his  contemporaries  that  by  virtue  of  certain  high 
traits  of  character,  in  certain  momentous  lines  of  pur- 
pose and  achievement,  he  was  incomparably  the  greatest 
man  of  his  time.  .  .  .  The  voice  of  hostile  faction 
is  silent  or  unheeded;  even  criticism  is  gentle  and 
timid  (p.  12).  We  knew  Mr.  Lincoln  intimately  be- 
fore his  election  to  the  presidency.     We  came  from 


240  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

Illinois  to  Washington  with  him,  and  remained  at  his 
side  and  in  his  service — separately  or  together — until 
the  day  of  his  death.  .  .  .  The  President's  cor- 
respondence, both  official  and  private,  passed  through 
our  hands,  he  gave  us  his  full  confidence,  (p.  14) 
.  .  .  each  of  us  has  written  an  equal  portion  of  the 
work.  .  .  .  We  each  assume  responsibility,  not 
only  for  the  whole,  but  for  all  the  details." 

PARIS,  THE  COUNT  OF,  was  a  volunteer  in  the  Union 
army.  See  History  of  Civil  War  in  America,  trans- 
lated by  Tasiastro,  Philadelphia,  1875,  Vol.  IV,  pages 
2  to  7,  for  his  partisan  attitude. 

P ATT  ON,  W.  W.,  was  President  of  Howard  University, 
for  negroes,  in  Washington,  D.  C. 

PIATT,  DONN,  GENERAL,  in  Reminiscences  of  Lincoln 
(p.  449),  refers  to  Lincoln  as  "the  greatest  figure 
looming  up  in  our  history,"  and  as  one  "who  wrought 
out  for  us  our  manhood  and  our  self-respect,"  and 
says  (pp.  499-500),  ...  we  accept  the  sad, 
rugged,  homely  face  and  love  it.  .  .  .  Clara 
Morris  describes  Piatt  (in  her  Life  on  the  Stage),  as  a 
gentleman  of  delightful  soeial  and  domestic  traits. 
(See  name  of  Rice.) 

PHILLIPS,  WENDELL.  Appleton's  Encyclopaedia  says 
he  "began  as  Abolitionist  leader  in  1837  .  .  . 
made  a  funeral  oration  over  John  Brown  .  .  .  had 
the  Anti-Slavery  Standard  for  his  organ." 

POORE,  BEN  PERLEY,  was  a  distinguished  editor,  but 
best  known  as  Washington  correspondent;  was  Major 


APPENDIX  241 

in  the  Eighth  Massachusetts  Volunteers.  His  book, 
The  Conspiracy  Trial  for  the  Murder  of  Abraham 
Lincoln,  shows  his  partisan  attitude.  (See  name  of 
Kice.) 

RAYMOND,  HENRY  J.,  assistant  editor  of  the  New  York 
Tribune,  and  founder  of  New  York  Times;  Republican 
Member  of  Congress  from  New  York  1865-1867;  au- 
thor of  Life  and  State  Papers  of  Abraham  Lincoln, 
Known  in  his  day  as  ''the  Little  Villain  of  the  N.  Y. 
Times.'' 

RHODES,  JAMES  FORD,  is  author  of  an  exceedingly 
valuable  six-volume  History  of  the  United  States  that 
(Vol.  IV,  p.  50)   eulogizes  Lincoln  ardently. 

RICE,  ALLEN  THORNDIKE,  was  long  editor  of  the 
North  American  Review,  a  leading  Republican  organ. 
He  is  editor,  too,  of  Reminiscences  of  Lincoln  by  Dis- 
tinguished Men  of  His  Time,  frequently  referred  to  in 
this  book.  Rice  supplies  the  Introduction  and  is  more 
or  less  responsible  for  all  that  is  quoted  from  Piatt, 
Usher,  Boutwell,  Poore  and  Depew  and  Maj.-Gen. 
James  Bosnet  Fry. 

RIDPATH,  JOHN  CLARK,  professor  in  Indiana  Asbury 
University,  published  his  History  of  the  United 
States  in  1883,  of  which  see  page  522  to  learn  his  at- 
titude. 

ROPES,  JOHN  CODMAN,  author  of  the  Story  of  the 
Civil  War,  which  eulogizes  Lincoln.  No  historian  of 
his  day  ranks  higher. 


242  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

RUSSELL,  WILLIAM  HOWARD.  His  My  Diary,  North 
and  South,  published  in  the  London  Times,  shows  a 
bitter  aversion  to  slavery,  and  to  almost  everything 
he  saw  in  the  South,  and  he  shows  plainly  his  judg- 
ment that  it  was  the  right  and  duty  of  Lincoln  to 
crush  secession.  George  William  Curtis  says  in  his 
Orations  (Vol.  I,  p.  139)  about  Russell,  that  ^'Europe 
sent  her  ablest  correspondent  to  describe  the  signs  of 
the  times,  and  that  Russell  saw  and  gave  a  fair  rep- 
resentation of  the  public  sentiment."  Adam's  Life 
of  Adams  (p.  151,  et  seq.)  speaks  of  Russell's  Diary 
as  *Hhe  views  and  conclusions  of  an  unprejudiced  ob- 
server through  the  medium  of  the  most  influential 
journal  in  the  world." 

SCHOULER,  JAMES.  His  History  of  the  United  States 
(p.  631,  et  seq.)  shows  that  no  biographer  is  more 
eulogistic  of  Lincoln.  Volume  VI  begins  with,  "The 
further  we  recede  from  the  era  of  our  great  civil  strife, 
the  more  colossal  stands  out  the  figure  of  Abraham 
Lincoln."  .  .  .  See  also  Vol.  VI,  page  624  to  end. 
He  calls  the  John  Brown  raid  (Vol.  VI,  p.  437)  **a 
sporadic  and  nonsensical  movement;"  says  *'the  piti- 
ful and  deluded  assailants"  were  not  treated  "with 
the  decent  magnanimity  for  which  so  good  an  oppor- 
tunity was  offered,  and  that  (p.  438)  "the  slave  master 
showed  on  this  occasion  his  innate  tyranny  and  cruelty 
towards  an  adversary."  He  likens  to  Brown,  Char- 
lotte Corday,  saying  the  difference  was  that  her  action 
was  "reasonable,"  Brown's  "unreasonable." 

SHERMAN,  JOHN,  President  McKinley's  first  Secretary 
of  State,  was  a  very  prominent  Republican  leader  dur- 
ing the  war,  and  served  in  the  Union  army  with  sword. 


APPENDIX  243 

tongue,  pen  and  purse,  raising  largely  at  his  own  ex- 
pense a  brigade  known  as  Sherman's  Brigade. 

SHERMAN,  GENERAL  W.  T.,  the  man  who  next  after 
Grant  was  ''Conqueror  of  the  Rebellion." 

SEWARD,  WILLIAM  H.,  was  Secretary  of  State  during 
Lincoln's  whole  administration,  and  accounted  one  of 
his  ablest  supporters. 

SMITH,  GOLDWIN,  a  distinguished  historian  and  pub- 
licist; professor  of  History  for  two  years  in  Oxford, 
and  for  three  years  in  Cornell.  In  his  United  States, 
an  Outline  of  Political  History  (p.  221,  et  seq.)y  it  is 
claimed  that  Lincoln  was  a  Christian.  A  dreadful 
picture  is  given  (p.  222  to  225)  of  master  and  slave — 
of  the  slave  ''overworked  and  tortured  with  the  lash — " 
.  .  .  of  "fetters  and  blood-hounds" —  ...  of 
''constant  dread  of  slave  insurrections;"  that  "it  is 
not  amongst  whips,  manacles  and  blood-hounds  that 
the  character  of  true  gentleman  can  be  trained;" 
.  .  .  that  "with  slavery  always  goes  lust;"  .  .  . 
of  "a  clergy  degraded  by  cringing  to  slavery." 

STANTON,  EDWIN  M.,  was  often  called  Lincoln's  "Great 
War  Secretary."  Appleton's  Encyclopaedia  says: 
"None  ever  questioned  his  honesty,  his  patriotism  or 
his  capability." 

STANWOOD,  EDWARD.  His  History  of  the  Presidency 
is  a  recognized  authority,  with  no  Southern  leanings. 

STEVENS,  THADDEUS,  entered  Congress  in  1858,  and 
from  that  time  until  his  death  was  one  of  the  Republi- 


244  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

can  leaders,  and  the  chief  advocate  for  emancipating 
and  arming  the  negroes. 

SUMNER,  CHARLES,  was  long  Senator  from  Massachu- 
setts, and  was  a  leader  in  support  of  the  war  and 
emancipation. 

SWETT,  LEONARD.  See  his  very  close  relations  to 
Lincoln,  shown  under  the  name  of  David  Davis  in  this 
Appendix. 

TARBELL,  IDA,  shows  constantly  in  her  histories  the 
most  ardent  admiration  for  Lincoln. 

TRUMBULL,  LYMAN,  United  States  Senator,  declined 
to  oppose  Lincoln  for  the  nomination  in  1860,  and  was 
one  of  the  first  to  propose  in  the  Senate  the  abolition 
of  slavery. 

USHER,  J.  P.,  was  in  Lincoln's  Cabinet  as  Secretary  of 
the  Interior.  He  says,  in  Reminiscences  of  Lincoln  by 
His  Associates,  page  77,  "Mr.  Lincoln's  greatness  was 
founded  upon  his  devotion  to  truth,  his  humanity  and 
his  innate  sense  of  justice  to  all." 

WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION.  Official  Records  of  the 
Union  and  Confederate  Armies.  We  have  a  very  ex- 
traordinary light  upon  the  history  of  that  period  in 
a  publication  made  by  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  which,  beginning  in  1870,  has  now  grown  to 
more  than  100  large  volumes,  "The  War  of  the  Re- 
bellion, Official  Records  of  the  Union  and  Confederate 
Armies."  The  history  of  the  war  that  has  been  writ- 
ten since  the  war  by  Jefferson  Davis  or  U.  S.  Grant, 


APPENDIX  245 

Alexander  Stephens  or  Charles  A.  Dana,  Joseph  E. 
Johnston,  John  Codman  Ropes,  and  all  the  rest  who 
have  undertaken  it,  may  be  distrusted  as  the  work  of 
partisans,  or  of  men  too  near  in  time  to  see  things 
correctly.  But  we  are  getting  down  to  the  real  truth 
of  history  when  we  have  the  very  words  used  by  Mr. 
Lincoln  and  his  Cabinet  members,  by  General  Mc- 
Clellan  and  his  subordinates  in  their  proclamations, 
orders,  reports  and  correspondence  during  the  months 
when  active  *' disloyalty "  was  being  repressed  in  all 
the  States  of  the  Union  that  were  within  reach  of  Sec- 
retary Seward's  ^'little  bell,'''  and  especially  in  Mary- 
land, Kentucky,  Missouri,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Ohio,  and 
New  York.  It  will  be  seen  that  none  of  the  extracts 
are  taken  from  the  Confederate  record,  they  are  all 
from  the  Union  records  and  in  all  cases  the  volume 
and  page  are  referred  to.  How  the  publication  of 
these  Eecords  has  helped  the  cause  of  the  South  in 
setting  history  straight  and  keeping  it  that  way  is 
shown  by  the  admission  of  an  honest  old  Union  vet- 
eran who  was  heard  to  say:  ''The  damned  Record 
ought  never  to  have  been  published." 

WADE,  BEN,  was  one  of  the  most  prominent  Republican 
leaders.  Ohio  Senator  from  1851  to  1869.  Anti- 
slavery  leader.  Favored  confiscation  in  the  war,  and 
emancipation. 

WEBB,  ALEXANDER  S.,  LL.D.,  professor  in  College  of 
City  of  New  York,  says,  as  follows,  in  his  Campaigns 
of  the  Civil  War,  III;  McClellan's  Campaign  of  1862, 
preface,  page  6,  that  ''In  speaking  of  the  President 
of  the  United  States  and  his  advisers,  he  (the  author) 
must  not  be  considered  as  rescinding  or  changing  at 


246  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

any  time  his  constant  and  repeated  expressions  of  ad- 
miration, affection  and  regard  for  the  President  him- 
self. He  appeals  *to  the  closing  chapter  ...  to 
prove  that  he  is  as  loyal  to  that  noble  man's  memory 
as  ever  he  was  to  him  in  person,  and  is  but  doing  the 
work  of  an  honest  historian  in  recording  the  sad  tale 
of  the  want  of  unity,  the  want  of  confidence,  the  want 
of  co-operation  between  the  Administration  and  the 
General  commanding  the  Army/  " 

WELLING,  JOS.  C,  editor  of  National  Intelligencer  at 
Washington  during  the  Civil  War;  afterwards  Presi- 
dent of  St.  John's  College,  Annapolis;  then  President 
of  Columbia  University. 

WELLES,  GIDEON,  was  Lincoln's  Secretary  of  the 
Navy. 

WHITCOMB,  PAUL  S.,  author  of  the  article  '^Lincoln 
and  Democracy,"  used  in  an  abbreviated  form  in  this 
edition,  is  a  resident  of  Gladstone,  Oregon.  His  for- 
bears were  New  Englanders,  moving  across  the  plains 
in  1852  to  settle  in  the  Northwest.  He  says,  * '  I  do  not 
know  when  I  was  attracted  to  the  critical  study  of 
Lincoln  but  that  study  was  intensified  subsequent  to 
the  late  war  by  the  fact  that  De  Valera,  the  Irish 
leader,  used  the  principles  of  the  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence as  a  basis  for  argument  tending  to  show 
Ireland's  right  to  complete  independence  and,  in 
rebuttal,  Mr.  Lloyd-George  quoted  Lincoln 's  arguments 
against  secession.  Only  a  bigot  acting  in  bad  faith 
could  fail  to  see  that  Lincoln's  position  did  not  square 
with  the  principles  of  the  Revolution  and  of  Democ- 
racy. ' ' 


APPENDIX  247 

WHITE,  HORACE,  had  a  distinguished  career  in  jour- 
nalism for  forty -years ;  was  editor  of  Chicago  Tribune 
and  of  the  New  York  Evening  Post. 

WHITNEY,  HENRY  CLAY,  shows  his  exceedingly  high 
estimate  of  Lincoln  in  the  last  page  of  his  On  Circuit 
with  Lincoln. 

WILSON,  WOODROW,  was  long  a  distinguished  and 
popular  professor  in  Princeton,  and  is  now  President. 
For  his  admiring  attitude  towards  Lincoln,  see  pages 
216  and  217  of  his  Disunion  and  Reunion,  and  Vol. 
IV,  page  256  of  his  History  of  the  American  Peoples. 

WINTHROP,  ROBERT  H.,  was  eminent  as  a  scholar  and 
statesman;  was  ten  years  in  the  House,  and  then  in 
the  Senate  from  Massachusetts. 

YOUNG,  JOHN  RUSSELL,  had  a  distinguished  career  in 
journalism,  especially  in  the  Tribune  group  with  Hor- 
ace Greeley. 


APPENDIX  B 
Abraham  Lincoln,  a  Supporter  of  John  Brown* 

Sir: 

As  bearing  on  a  statement  made  by  Dr.  Mary  Scrugbam, 
in  an  article  that  appeared  in  the  September  issue  of  your 
magazine,  as  to  the  pro-John  Brownism  of  President  Lin- 
coln, I  submit  for  your  consideration  several  interesting 
items  which  have  come  under  my  observation  and  which 
may  prove  of  interest  to  your  readers. 

(1).  His  law  partner  testifies  to  the  fact  that  Lincoln 
made  a  contribution  to  John  Brown's  activities  in  Kansas. 
In  the  recent  edition  of  the  Herndon-Weiks  Lincoln,  pub- 
lished by  the  Jefferson  Printing  Co.,  of  Chicago,  Vol.  II, 
page  379,  we  find  the  following : 

''In  Illinois  an  association  was  formed  to  aid  the  cause 
of  'Free-Soil.'  We  recommend  the  employment  of  any 
means  however  desperate  to  promote  and  defend  the  cause 
of  freedom.  At  one  of  these  meetings  Lincoln  was  called 
on  for  a  speech.  He  counselled  moderation — We  raised 
a  neat  sum  of  money,  Lincoln  showing  his  sincerity  by 
joining  in  the  subscription  and  forwarding  it  to  our 
friends  in  Kansas." 

(2).  In  a  recent  correspondence  that  I  had  with  Dr. 
W.  T.  von  Knappe  of  Vincennes,  in  regard  to  his  History 
of  the  Wabash  Valley,  I  received  the  following  letter,  to 

^  This  article  is  reprinted  verbatim  from  The  Libertarian,  a  magazine  pub- 
lished at  Greenville,  S.  C,  in  its  issue  of  October,  1924.  It  appeared  there 
as  a  communication  from  M.  D.  Carter,  editor  of  this  edition  of  "The  Real 
Lincoln." 

248 


APPENDIX  249 

which  you  will  see  he  has  made  affidavit.  Dr.  Knappe 
tells  me  he  is  Head  of  a  Masonic  Memorial  Hospital,  the 
son  of  the  well  known  journalist,  Horace  Knappe,  editor 
of  the  Cincinnati  Enquirer,  Fort  Wayne  Times  and  Sen- 
tinel and  other  papers,  and  the  grand-nephew  of  Gov.  Silas 
Wright  of  New  York.     His  letter  is  as  follows : 

Office  of  the  Presbyterian  Hospital  of  Wilhelm  T.  von 
Knappe,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  Homeopathic  Physician  and  Spe- 
cialist. Office  Cor.  Sixth  and  Perry  Streets,  Telephone 
604,  Vincennes,  Ind.,  November  3,  1922. 

M.  D.  Carter: 

I  thank  you  for  the  $3.00,  and  I  am  sending  the  history 
by  registered  mail.  They  would  not  print  the  other  side 
in  the  U.  S.  is  the  reason  of  the  expense.  I  expect  to  sell 
the  plate  of  the  saloon  license  to  a  Georgia  Professor  for 
cost  and  if  you  wish  his  address  I  will  give  it  to  you. 

When  John  Brown  was  collecting  cash  to  buy  pikes  to 
arm  the  slaves  of  Virginia  to  murder  their  masters,  he  came 
from  Oberlin,  Ohio,  south  to  Ashland,  where  my  father, 
H.  S.  Knappe,  had  me  in  an  Abolitionist's  shoe  store  buy- 
ing me  a  pair  of  boots.  His  name  was  Wassen.  A  crazy- 
looking  fellow  came  to  the  door  and  enquired  for  the  boss. 
I  told  him  he  was  back  at  his  desk,  talking  advertising 
with  my  father.  When  Brown  produced  his  subscription 
paper,  my  father  wanted  me  to  witness  to  the  fact  that  this 
document  was  headed  by  ^'A.  Lincoln  $100.00." 

Well,  when  Governor  Wise  hung  John  Brozun,  my  father 
wanted  A.  Lincoln  and  every  traitor  that  gave  a  dollar 
given  the  same  dose,  and,  if  President  Buchanan  had 
taken  his  advice,  there  would  have  been  no  war  between 
the  North  and  South. 

Respectfully, 
(Signed)  Wilhelm  T.  Knappe,  A.  M.,  M.  D. 


250  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

AFFIDAVIT  TO  THE  ABOVE  LETTER 

State  of  Indiana 

County  of  Knox.  S.  S. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me,  a  Notary  Public,  in 
and  for  said  County  by  W.  T.  von  Knappe,  this  third  day 
of  November,  1922. 

My  Commission  expires  February  2,  1925. 
Seal  Address  of  Notary  Public, 

Notary  Public  B.  N.  Foulks,  Asst.  Cashier, 

Knox  County,  Ind.  American  National  Bank, 

Vincennes,  Indiana 

(3).  Dr.  Lyon  G.  Tyler  makes  the  following  statement 
on  this  subject  in  his  treatment  of  the  Federal  Period,  in 
the  six-volume  History  of  Virginia,  published  by  the 
American  Historical  Society,  in  vol.  II,  page  402: 

The  abolitionists  united  in  praise  of  Brown,  and  Wendell 
Phillips  declared  that  he  was  not  at  all  surprised  at  his 
action.  He  boasted  that  it  was  *^the  natural  result  of  the 
anti-slavery  teaching,'^  and  said:  ^'For  one  I  accept  it, 
I  expected  it.  On  the  banks  of  the  Potomac — history  will 
visit  that  river  more  kindly  because  John  Brown  has  gilded 
it  with  the  eternal  brightness  of  his  deed  than  because  the 
dust  of  Washington  rests  on  one  side  of  it.'' — If  it  be  said 
that  the  abolitionists  constituted  a  small  factor  of  the 
Northern  people  who  regarded  them  as  crazy,  the  answer 
is,  that  while  uttering  sentiments  inciting  to  further  mur- 
ders they  were  approved  by  many  and  interfered  with  by 
none.  None  of  them  were  arrested  or  put  in  hospitals  for 
the  insane. — We  are  bound  to  believe  that  the  condemna- 
tion of  Brown  by  Lincoln  and  other  politicians  was  sincere 
in  no  degree,  that  in  fact  they  secretly  honored  and  be- 
lieved in  him;  and  this  was  shown  by  their  after  talk  when 


APPENDIX  251 

there  was  no  need  for  policy.  When  hostilities  at  last 
began,  the  most  popular  song  of  the  Federal  soldier  was 
'^John  Brown's  Body/'  and  for  many  years  after  the  war 
his  name  held  first  place  in  the  affections  of  the  Northern 
writers, 

M.  D.  Carter. 


APPENDIX  C 
LINCOLN  AND  DEMOCRACY* 

By  Paul  S.  Whitcomb,  Gladstone,  Oregon 

Nothing  so  intrigues  the  mind  of  the  people  of  the  North- 
ern States  of  the  American  Republic  as  the  personality  of 
Abraham  Lincoln  and  the  imperial  American  Union.  For 
sixty-two  years  the  crescendo  of  laudation  of  Lincoln  has 
been  steadily  rising,  and  the  end  is  not  yet.  For  Lincoln 
was  the  central  figure  and  the  dominating  personality  in 
one  of  the  greatest  wars  of  history  and,  in  spite  of  all  the 
theories  of  democracy,  nothing  so  appeals  to  the  emotions 
of  men,  which  are  the  well  springs  of  eulogy,  as  martial 
and  imperial  glory.  People  are  not  given  to  repudiating 
the  wars  they  wage  or  those  who  lead  them  into  war.  Lin- 
coln, himself,  was  retired  from  Congress  for  eight  years 
because  of  his  opposition  to  the  Mexican  War. 

It  is  an  interesting  question  as  to  what  Lincoln's  place 
in  history  would  have  been  if  there  had  been  no  Civil  War 
with  its  lurid  glow  to  silhouette  his  eccentric  personality 
for  future  generations.  At  the  time  of  his  election  to  the 
Presidency  he  was  scarcely  more  than  a  local  character. 
He  had  served  in  Congress  without  rising  above  medi- 

*  This  article  was  first  published  in  Tyler's  Quarterly  Magazine  for  July, 
1927,  and  is  reprinted  here  in  somewhat  condensed  form  by  permission  of 
the  author.  The  editor  is  indebted  to  Oapt.  Samuel  A.  Ashe,  well-known 
North  Carolina  historian,  for  condensing  this  article  to  a  compass  that  would 
permit  of  its  reproduction  in  this  volume.  The  force  of  this  article  is  in- 
creased by  the  fact  that  the  writer  is  of  Vermont  stock  and  professes  entire 
change  in  his  opinions  as  formerly  entertained.  For  additional  facts  re- 
garding both  the  author  and  Capt.  Ashe  see  Appendix  A. 

252 


APPENDIX  253 

ocrity.  He  had  played  fast  and  loose  with  the  questions 
of  slavery  and  secession  without  contributing  anything 
original  or  constructive  to  the  discussion,  and  what  he  said 
only  served  to  further  agitate  the  South  and  to  so  compro- 
mise his  own  public  position  as  to  make  secession  inevitable 
when  the  Black  Republicans  came  into  power. 

He  has  been  called  a  great  thinker  but  his  attitude  to- 
ward both  slavery  and  secession  was  at  once  doctrinaire 
and  the  result  of  mechanistic  logic  which  failed  to  recog- 
nize the  distinction  between  the  laws  of  physical  science 
and  the  laws  of  human  action.  With  regard  to  the  slaves 
he  appealed  from  their  legal  status  to  the  'higher'  law, 
but  with  regard  to  secession  and  the  rights  of  the  free  and 
highly  civilized  white  people  of  the  south  he  argued  their 
rights  on  the  basis  of  those  maxims  of  despotism  which 
were  invented  for  the  express  purpose  of  denying  to  the 
people  their  rightful  liberties.  He  argued  that  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  applied  to  the 
negro  but  denied  that  they  applied  to  the  free  white  in- 
habitants of  the  States  in  whose  favor  they  were  originally 
promulgated.  He  failed  to  discern  that  the  independence 
of  the  slave  and  the  independence  of  the  states  involved 
the  same  fundamental  principle,  that  the  right  of  secession 
was  absolute  and  unqualified  and  no  more  required  op- 
pressive acts  to  justify  it  than  did  the  right  of  the  slave 
to  secede  from  his  master.  He  failed  to  see  that  those 
same  class  of  arguments  which  denied  freedom  to  the  South 
also  denied  freedom  to  all  men  *'and  undermined  the  very 
foundation  of  free  society." 

The  indiscriminate  and  uncritical  eulogies  which  have 
been  heaped  upon  Lincoln  have  been  pronounced  in  the 
face  of  all  but  the  most  superficial  facts  and  as  though  all 
the  rest  of  the  world  was  composed  of  brutes,  knaves  and 
fools.     There  is  no  evidence  that  Lincoln  was  any  more 


254  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

honest,  kind,  accommodating  or  sagacious  than  the  ordi- 
nary run  of  men.  His  waging  of  the  Civil  War  was  the 
very  antithesis  of  common  sense  and  statesmanship.  There 
was  no  catastrophe  potential  in  secession  that  in  any  way 
justified  the  waging  of  the  war,  viewed  simply  as  a  matter 
of  state  policy,  without  reference  to  the  moral  and  human 
aspect  of  the  war.  It  was  one  of  the  most  colossal  bank- 
ruptcies of  common  sense  and  humane  statesmanship  known 
to  modern  history.  As  the  situation  stood  in  1860  it  were 
better  for  the  North  and  the  South  both  that  they  should 
separate.  The  prosperity  which  followed  in  the  wake  of 
the  Civil  War  was  not  due  to  keeping  the  South  in  the 
Union  but  to  the  development  of  the  West.  But  even  if 
it  was,  it  is  a  Prussian,  and  not  an  American,  doctrine  that 
War  is  a  legitimate  agent  of  national  progress,  that  the 
end  justifies  the  means.  We  have  no  right  to  do  evil  that 
good  may  abound. 

Lincoln  has  been  acclaimed  the  great  democrat,*  yet  the 
greatest  act  of  his  career  was  the  very  antithesis  of  de- 
mocracy. Washington  was  infinitely  a  greater  statesman 
and  a  greater  democrat.  Robert  E.  Lee  was  greater  in 
all  around  character.  It  has  been  too  readily  assumed  that 
lowliness  of  birth  is  evidence  of  greater  democracy.  But 
the  man  of  lowly  birth  can  be  no  more  than  a  democrat 
and  it  is  no  particular  credit  to  him  that  he  is.  But  the 
man  of  aristocratic  birth,  who  has  the  privilege  and  op- 
portunity of  being  more  than  a  democrat,  and  yet  who 
remains  one,  not  only  in  simulation  but  at  heart,  can  truly 
claim  the  title  of  being  a  great  democrat.  The  purpose 
of  democracy  is  not  to  drag  the  few  down  but  to  lift  the 
many  up.  It  is  not  to  make  all  common  but  to  make  all 
aristocrats,  to  diffuse  the  benefits  of  culture  and  good 
breeding  throughout  the  community.     And  Washington, 

*  In  politics  Lincoln  was  a  Whig.      (Ashe). 


APPENDIX  255 

who  was  an  aristocrat  by  birth,  because  of  the  largeness  of 
his  heart  and  the  breadth  of  his  character  became  the  first 
democrat  through  choice  and  affection.  Never  can  it  be 
truthfully  charged  against  the  man  who  subordinated  the 
military  to  the  civil  through  seven  long  miserable,  heart- 
breaking years  of  revolutionary  struggle  and  at  the  finish 
scornfully  spurned  a  crown,  that  he  was  lacking  in  all  the 
great  qualities  of  a  democrat." 

When  Lincoln  said  that  the  question  of  union  or  dis- 
union could  only  be  settled  by  war,  and  ridiculed  those 
who  decried  force  as  a  legitimate  and  lawful  means  of 
maintaining  the  union,  arguing  that  *' their  idea  of  means 
to  preserve  the  object  of  their  great  affection  would  seem 
to  be  exceedingly  thin  and  airy''  and  compared  them  to 
free  lovers,  Washington  said  ^'Let  us  erect  a  standard  to 
which  the  wise  and  the  just  can  repair, — the  result  is  in 
the  hands  of  God ' ' ;  and  of  the  accomplished  Union  he  said 
that  it  was  "the  offspring  of  our  own  choice,  uninfluenced 
and  unawed,  adopted  upon  full  investigation  and  mature 
deliberation,  completely  free  in  its  principles."  Wash- 
ington based  the  Union  upon  the  democratic  principle  of 
free  consent.  Lincoln  ridiculed  the  basis  of  democracy, 
spoke  of  it  as  exceedingly  thin  and  airy,  likened  it  to  a 
free  love  arrangement  and  asserted  that  force  was  the  only 
sound  basis  of  government.  He  appealed  from  the  basis 
of  democracy  to  the  basis  of  despotism,  from  the  ballot  to 
the  bullet.  The  Civil  War  was  the  result  of  the  putting 
the  new  wine  of  democracy  into  the  old  skins  of  despotism. 

The  responsibility  for  the  Civil  War  has  been  laid  at  the 


2  It  is  a  remarkable  confirmation  of  this  character  in  Washington  that  Col. 
Landon  Carter,  of  Sabine  Hall,  Va.,  used  the  following  language  on  May  3, 
1776,  before  Washington  had  been  called  to  the  command  of  the  American 
armies:  "I  never  knew  but  one  man  who  resolved  not  to  forget  the  citizen 
in  the  soldier  or  ruler,  and  that  is  G.  W.,  and  I  am  afraid  I  shall  not  know 
another." — (Tyler) . 


256  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

door  of  the  South  on  the  grounds  that  they  fired  the  first 
shot  against  Fort  Sumter.  But  the  grounds  beg  the  ques- 
tion and  the  responsibility  for  the  war  must  await  the 
determination  of  the  question  as  to  whether  or  not  the 
South  had  a  right  to  secede.  If  South  Carolina  had  a  right 
to  secede  she  had  the  right  to  take  Fort  Sumter.  Lincoln's 
policy  in  sitting  tight  and  forcing  the  South  to  jnake  the 
first  move  was  identical  with  that  of  Bismarck.  ''Suc- 
cess," Bismarck  said,  ''essentially  depends  upon  the  im- 
pression which  the  origination  of  the  war  makes  upon  us 
and  others;  it  is  important  that  we  should  be  the  party 
attacked." 

But  the  attack  of  South  Carolina  upon  Fort  Sumter  was 
not  an  attack  upon  the  North  in  any  such  a  sense  as  the 
attack  which  Bismarck  maneuvered  an  all  too  willing  Na- 
poleon into  making  upon  Prussia.  Fort  Sumter  was  his- 
torically and  geographically  an  integral  part  of  the  soil 
of  South  Carolina.  It  was  there,  as  Lincoln  said  in  his 
special  message  to  Congress,  for  the  protection  of  the  people 
of  South  Carolina.  It  was  an  integral  and  vital  part  of 
their  system  of  common  defense.  It  symbolized  the  right 
of  these  people  to  defend  themselves,  a  right  which  is  basic 
to  all  other  rights  and  which  is  the  very  test  of  manhood. 
Deny  a  man  or  a  group  of  men  the  right  to  defend  them- 
selves and  you  deny  them  all  other  rights,  for  what  a  man 
has  not  the  right  to  protect  it  cannot  be  reasonably  and 
intelligently  argued  he  has  a  right  to  at  all. 

Fundamentally  and  vitally  the  fort  belonged  to  the 
people  of  South  Carolina.  The  site  of  the  Fort  had  been 
ceded  to  the  Federal  government  for  the  protection  of  the 
City  of  Charleston,  and  the  moneys  with  which  the  fort 
had  been  constructed  were  drawn  by  taxation  from  the 
people  of  the  States  by  methods  to  which  all  the  States  had 
agreed  in  ratifying  the  Constitution.     South  Carolina  had 


APPENDIX  257 

contributed  her  share  and  was  morally  entitled  to  a  di- 
vision of  the  common  property.  As  to  the  legal  phase  of 
it  there  was  none,  for  there  was  no  law  governing  the  sub- 
ject, regardless  of  the  fact  that  no  technical,  legal  grounds 
can  justify  such  a  social  catastrophe  as  war.  War  defeats 
the  very  end  of  law  and  government,  which  is  the  conserva- 
tion of  human  values. 

In  spite  of  the  persistent  attempt,  carried  on  through 
school  histories  and  by  partizan  historians  in  general,  to 
brand  the  people  of  the  South  in  general,  and  of  South 
Carolina  in  particular,  as  so  many  hell-bent  hot  heads,  the 
fact  is  that  the  secession  movement  was  done  *  decently  and 
in  order.'  They  did  not  wantonly  and  in  undue  haste  fire 
upon  Fort  Sumter.  They  sent  a  commission  to  Washing- 
ton to  negotiate  a  peaceful  settlement  of  all  questions 
arising  from  secession.^  The  assertion  that  secession  was 
an  essentially  war-like  act  was  a  federal  doctrine  and  not  a 
southern  doctrine.  It  was  not  until  this  commission  had 
been  snubbed  on  the  narrow,  childish  legalism  that  the 
people  of  the  South  had  no  right  to  speak  for  themselves, 
that  the  people  of  South  Carolina  took  the  only  other 
course  open  to  them  and  asserted  their  rights  by  force  of 
arms.' 

*  They  offered  to  pay  the  cost  of  construction  of  the  fort,  etc.  (Ashe) 
'  This  does  not  state  the  full  case.  Not  only  were  commissioners  snubbed 
and  denied  audience,  but  no  attack  took  place  till  Lincoln  sent  an  armed 
squadron  to  supply  the  Fort  with  men  and  provisions.  On  this  very  question 
he  took  the  advice  of  his  cabinet,  on  March  15,  1861  and  only  one  of  them 
favored  the  movement.  The  rest  in  effect  declared  that  the  measure  would 
inaugurate  civil  war,  and  it  must  be  remembered  that  Mr.  Hallam  in  his 
constitutional  History  of  England  states  that  "the  aggressor  in  a  war  is  not 
the  first  who  uses  force,  but  the  first  who  renders  force  necessary."      (Tyler) 

It  is  proper  to  add  that  Mr.  Lincoln  and  his  cabinet  had  agreed  that  there 
should  be  no  war  and  that  the  troops  would  be  withdrawn  from  Fort  Sumter, 
until  he  was  persuaded  by  nine  governors  to  bring  on  a  war  and  to  have  it 
started  by  getting  South  Carolina  to  fire  on  Fort  Sumter.  Nicolay  and  Hay, 
close  to  Mr.  Lincoln  as  brothers,  wrote  as  of  April  1st,  p.  442,  vol.  3  :  "Con- 
gress had  neglected  to  provide  measures  and  means  for  coercion.  The 
conservative  sentiment  of  the  country  protested  loudly  against  everything  but 


258  THE  EEAL  LINCOLN 

In  general  principle  the  right  of  the  people  of  South 
Carolina  to  dispossess  the  Federal  Government  of  Fort 
Sumter  involves  no  more  than  the  right  of  any  property- 
owner  to  discharge  a  watchman  hired  to  protect  his  prop- 
erty. The  Federal  Government  had  no  more  reasonable 
or  moral  right  to  wage  war  against  the  people  of  South 
Carolina  and  destroy  their  lives  and  property  than  a  dis- 
charged watchman  would  have  to  destroy  the  property  he 
was  hired  to  protect.  The  authority  of  government  is  not 
an  end  in  itself  but  a  means  to  an  end.  The  attempt  to 
give  to  civil  authority  a  special  extra  moral  status  is  with- 
out ethical  or  social  warrant  and  is  simply  one  of  the 
superstitions  invented  by  despots  as  a  means  of  awing  the 
people  and  maintaining  themselves  in  power. 

Unionists  would  deny  that  two  times  two  make  four  if 
it  were  necessary  to  vindicate  the  Civil  War.  To  them  no 
statement  of  principle  is  valid  in  favor  of  the  independence 
of  the  South  and  against  the  War.  Secession  itself  is  a 
true  principle  when  exercised  in  favor  of  the  Union  as 
Lincoln  declared  in  the  case  of  the  secession  of  the  forty- 
nine  counties  of  Old  Virginia. 

The  issues  involved  in  the  Civil  War  were  not  of  concern 
solely  to  the  generation  which  fought  the  war  but  are 
questions  of  eternal  right  and  wrong  and  are  subject  to 
the  law  of  Lincoln's  doctrine  that  no  question  is  settled 
until  it  is  settled  right.  The  objection  that  the  war  is  water 
over  the  dam  and  that  the  problems  of  the  present  demand 

concessions.  His  own  cabinet  was  divided  in  council.  Public  opinion  was 
'awry.'  Treason  was  applauded  and  patriotism  rebuked."  Then  the  Presi- 
dent determined  on  war  and  with  the  purpose  of  making  it  appear  that  the 
South  was  the  aggressor,  he  took  measures.  He  sought  to  bring  about  the 
Confederate  attack  on  Fort  Sumter.  "The  President  was  looking  through 
and  beyond  the  now  inevitable  attack  and  the  response  of  the  awakened  and 
united  North.  .  .  .  He  was  looking  through  Sumter  to  the  loyal  states — 
beyond  the  insulted  flag  to  the  avenging  nation."  (Nicolay  and  Hay,  IV, 
p.  28,  p.  45).  So  Fred  Seward,  the  Assistant  Secretary  of  State,  records 
that  the  firing  on  Sumter  "was  not  unexpected"    (p.   587).      (Ashe) 


APPENDIX  259 

our  attention  is  valid  providing  that  history  is  all  bunk  and 
that  there  is  nothing  to  learn  from  our  past.  But  the  prob- 
lems of  the  present  are  largely  the  legacy  of  the  past,  and 
if  the  past  had  settled  them  right  the}^  wouldn't  confront 
us  at  the  present  time.  It  has  only  been  since  the  late  war 
that  an  English  Premier  has  quoted  the  arguments  of 
Lincoln  against  secession  as  an  answer  to  the  principles  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  as  put  forward  in  defense 
of  the  right  of  the  Irish  to  freedom.  And  the  struggle  of 
Ireland  for  freedom  antedates  our  Eevolutionary  War  by 
a  century  and  a  half  and  involved  and  involves  the  same 
questions. 

It  is  thus  that  our  past  rises  up  to  meet  us  and,  as 
Lincoln  said  of  slavery,  "deprives  our  republican  example 
of  its  just  influence  in  the  world."  In  setting  up  the 
sovereignty  of  the  Union  as  a  basis  for  making  war 
against  the  seceding  States  and  as  a  fence  against  Euro- 
pean interference  he  was  acting  upon  the  same  principle 
that  if  one  man  chooses  to  kill  another,  neither  that  man 
nor  any  third  man  has  a  right  to  object.  The  logic  of  the 
Civil  War  was  that  the  right  to  govern  is  paramount  over 
the  right  to  live,  that  man  is  made  for  government,  rather 
than  that  government  is  made  for  man,  and  that  for  men 
to  claim  the  right  of  self-government  is  to  deserve  and 
incur  the  death  penalty. 

Lincoln's  arguments  against  the  right  of  the  South  to 
independence  were  drawn  from  baseless  exaggerations,  the 
fatalistic  sequence  of  mechanistic  logic,  an  imperial  and 
authoritarian  interpretation  of  the  Constitution  which 
ignored  its  humanitarian  purpose,  a  strange  hodge  podge 
of  the  maxims  of  monarchical  political  science,  and  an 
instinctive  metaphysical  attitude  toward  government. 

Lincoln  said  of  slavery  that  it  was  the  only  thing  that 
endangered  the  perpetuity  of  this  Union  and  that  it  was 


260  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

the  sine  qua  non  of  secession,  but  from  the  Constitutional 
and  historical  standpoint  this  is  not  true.  Slavery,  as  he 
admitted,  was  ''indeed  older  than  the  Revolution."  It 
existed  previous  to  the  Constitution  and  the  Union  was 
formed  in  spite  of  it.  Both  from  the  standpoint  of  the 
Constitution  and  sound  statesmanship  it  was  not  slavery 
but  the  intemperate  fanatical  Abolition  movement  that 
endangered  the  Union. 

These  Abolitionists  proposed  to  apply  all  the  principles 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  to  a  race  of  people 
that  were  totally  unprepared  for  self-government. 

It  was  the  intemperate,  arrogant,  self-righteous  and  aca- 
demic attitude  of  the  Abolitionists  that  made  any  con- 
structive solution  of  the  slavery  question  impossible  and 
led  the  six  cotton  states  to  withdraw  from  the  Union.  The 
right  to  withdraw  was  early  claimed. 

As  a  matter  of  historical  fact  South  Carolina  had  threat- 
ened to  secede  over  the  tariff.  The  Colonies  seceded  from 
Britain  over  a  question  of  local  self-government.  Belgium 
seceded  from  Holland  and  Norway  from  Sweden,  where 
no  question  of  slavery  was  involved. 

Lincoln  said  of  secession  that  it  was  the  destruction  of 
the  country,  of  the  Union,  of  the  nation  and  of  the  liberties 
of  the  people  and  of  the  institutions  of  the  country.  He 
said  ''we  have,  as  all  will  agree,  a  free  government,  where 
every  man  has  a  right  to  be  equal  with  every  other  man. 
In  this  great  struggle,  this  form  of  government  and  every 
form  of  human  right  is  endangered  if  our  enemies  suc- 
ceed.'* The  argument  was  absolutely  senseless.  One 
would  think  to  read  the  argument  that  some  Napoleon, 
Caesar  or  Alexander  the  Great  were  attempting  to  conquer 
the  Southern  people  and  set  up  a  despotism  and  that  Lin- 
coln was  waging  a  war  in  aid  and  defense  of  those  people, 
rather  than  that  those  people  were  seeking  to  do  nothing 


APPENDIX  261 

more  than  govern  themselves  and  that  Lincoln  was  warring 
to  conquer  them,  to  keep  them  from  exercising  their  right- 
ful liberties. 

Secession  was  not,  in  any  substantial  sense,  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  nation,  nor  was  it  in  a  proper  sense  the  de- 
struction of  the  Union.  A  nation  is  simply  a  corporation 
through  which  men  exercise  certain  of  their  rights,  just  as 
they  exercise  other  of  their  rights  through  their  other  or- 
ganizations. 

Secession  did  not  destroy  the  nation,  but  merely 
altered  it.  The  Union  existed  when  there  were  only  thir- 
teen states  composing  it,^  and  it  would  have  continued  to 
exist  when  there  were  twenty  states  left  with  a  boundless 
public  domain. 

As  for  the  liberties  of  the  people,  all  their  liberties  would 
have  remained  intact.  Furthermore  in  spite  of  the  gravity 
of  the  situation  as  it  existed  in  1789,  Washington  never 
proposed  to  use  force  to  compel  a  Union. 

In  his  Missouri  Compromise  speech  Lincoln  said:  ''I 
trust  I  understand  and  truly  estimate  the  right  of  self- 
government.  My  faith  in  the  proposition  that  each  man 
should  do  precisely  as  he  pleases  with  all  which  is  exclu- 
sively his  own  lies  at  the  foundation  of  all  the  sense  of 
justice  there  is  in  me.  I  extend  the  principle  to  com- 
munities of  men  as  well  as  to  individuals.  I  so  extend  it 
because  it  is  politically  wise,  as  well  as  naturally  just; 
politically  wise  in  saving  us  from  broils  about  matters  which 
do  not  concern  us —  The  doctrine  of  self-government  is 
right, — absolutely  and  eternally  right." 

No  argument  could  give  any  stronger  support  to  the 
right  of  secession  than  this  argument  in  favor  of  freedom 
for  the  slave.     If  the  inhabitants  of  the  states  are  men,  is 

*  As  a  matter  of  fact  it  existed  when  only  eleven  states  were  members  of  it — ■ 
before  North  Carolina  and  Rhode  Island  joined. 


262  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

it  not  to  that  extent  a  total  destruction  of  self-government 
to  say  that  they  shall  not  govern  themselves?  When  the 
people  of  the  North  govern  themselves  that  is  self-govern- 
ment ;  but  when  they  govern  themselves  and  also  govern 
the  people  of  the  South,  that  is  more  than  self-government 
— that  is  despotism. 

The  negro  was  the  beneficiary  rather  than  the  victim  of 
slavery  as  Booker  T.  Washington  has  admitted.  Lincoln's 
talk  about  ''unrequited  toil"  ignores  the  fact  that  the  con- 
dition of  the  negro  was  better  under  slavery  than  it  was 
in  Africa,  it  ignores  the  fact  that  as  compared  to  white 
laborers  of  equal  mentality  he  was  not  deprived  of  any 
substantial  rights,  it  ignores  the  economic  and  social  status 
of  northern  so-called  ''free"  labor  which  bordered  closely 
upon  serfdom,  and  it  ignores  the  contribution  of  manage- 
ment to  production.  The  strong  probability  is  that  the 
negro  received  at  least  as  great  a  share,  in  proportion  to 
what  he  contributed  to  production,  as  did  the  technically 
free  northern  laborer. 

In  any  event  civil  war  was  no  more  a  legitimate  remedy 
for  slavery  than  were  the  reputedly  revolutionary  methods 
of  the  I.  W.  W.  a  proper  remedy  for  the  wrongs  inflicted 
upon  free  labor  by  northern  capitalists. 

In  his  first  inaugural  address  Lincoln  said: — "I  hold 
that  in  contemplation  of  universal  law  and  of  the  Consti- 
tution, the  Union  of  these  States  is  perpetual.  Perpetuity 
is  implied,  if  not  expressed,  in  the  fundamental  law  of  all 
national  governments.  It  is  safe  to  assert  that  no  govern- 
ment proper  ever  had  a  provision  in  its  organic  law  for 
its  own  termination.  Continue  to  execute  all  the  express 
provision  of  our  National  Constitution,  and  the  Union  will 
endure  forever — it  being  impossible  to  destroy  it  except  by 
some  action  not  provided  for  in  the  instrument  itself." 

The  argument  views  States  simply  as  political  abstrac- 


APPENDIX  263 

tions.  It  ignores  "States"  as  denoting  an  organization  of 
men.  It  assumes  that  there  is  some  authority  capable  of 
making  a  contract  binding  upon  all  generations  of  men 
which  shall,  throughout  the  course  of  time,  inhabit  a  cer- 
tain territory.  It  assumes  that  a  few  hundred  thousand 
voters  living  along  the  Atlantic  seaboard  a  century  and 
a  half  ago  possessed  authority  over  all  generations  of  men 
which  may  throughout  the  course  of  time  inhabit  all  the 
country  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  seaboard. 

The  Southern  people  of  1860  had  never  entered  into  "a 
clear  compact  of  government."  It  is  true  that  a  genera- 
tion of  men  previously  inhabiting  the  same  territory  had 
done  so,  but  that  was  not  their  affair.  One  generation 
possesses  no  such  authority  over  future  generations.  Po- 
litical theorists  may  call  this  anarchy,  but  they  take 
their  theories  too  seriously.  Men  do  not  maintain  govern- 
ment because  their  granddaddy  said  they  should  any  more 
than  they  live  in  houses,  or  eat  three  square  meals  a  day, 
or  go  to  church  because  their  granddaddy  said  they  should. 
In  some  notes  on  government  Lincoln  said:  ''Most  gov- 
ernments have  been  based,  practically,  on  the  denial  of 
the  equal  rights  of  men,  as  I  have,  in  part  stated  them ;  ours 
began  by  affirming  those  rights. 

In  asserting  that  if  we  continue  to  execute  all  the 
express  provisions  of  the  Constitution  the  Union  will 
last  forever  Lincoln  asserted  no  more  than  is  true  of  any 
institution  whose  charter  runs  in  perpetuity.  But  the 
assertion  contains  no  argument  against  secession.  Theo- 
rize, as  men  will,  with  regard  to  the  basis  of  government 
it  must  conform  to  rational  and  moral  reasoning,  and  there 
is  no  rational  and  moral  reasoning  to  support  the  assump- 
tion that  one  generation  can  bind  another  generation  in 
any  such  a  way  as  is  implicit  in  Lincoln's  interpretation 
of  the  idea  of  perpetuity  as  applied  to  the  Union. 


264  THE  EEAL  LINCOLN 

Lincoln  neglected  to  draw  the  distinction  between  the 
right  to  dissolve  an  organization  and  the  right  to  with- 
draw or  secede  from  it.  The  one  is  a  right  which  belongs 
to  the  members  as  a  whole  while  the  other  is  a  right  in- 
herent if  not  expressed  in  the  laws  of  any  organization 
except  as  membership  therein  partakes  of  the  nature  of 
a  contractual  obligation  involving  a  consideration.  But 
the  Union  is  not  of  such  a  nature  and  there  is  no  author- 
ity by  which  such  a  perpetual  obligation  could  be  es- 
tablished. 

In  arguing  that  secession  was  the  essence  of  disintegra- 
tion and  anarchy  Lincoln  asked  ''why  may  not  any  portion 
of  a  new  confederacy — arbitrarily  secede  again" — **Is 
there  such  perfect  identity  of  interests  among  the  States 
to  compose  a  new  union,  as  to  produce  harmony  only,  and 
prevent  renewed  secession?" 

*' Plainly,  the  central  idea  of  secession  is  the  essence  of 
anarchy.  A  majority,  held  in  restraint  by  constitutional 
checks  and  limitations — is  the  only  true  sovereign  of  a 
free  people." 

Grant  has  admitted  in  his  Memoirs  that  if  the  Southern 
States  had  been  allowed  to  secede,  they  would  have  set  up 
a  government  that  would  have  been  real  and  respected, 
and  the  assertion  that  secession  was  the  essence  of  anarchy 
was  purely  academic. 

The  essence  of  secession  is  not  anarchy  but  freedom,  in- 
dependence and  nationalism. 

Lincoln  asserted  that  ''All  who  cherish  disunion  senti- 
ments are  now  being  educated  to  the  exact  temper  of  doing 
this  (continuous  disintegration)."  He  could  have  better 
argued  that  all  who  cherish  warlike  sentiments  are  being 
educated  to  the  temper  of  conquest.  His  argument  that 
secession  was  the  essence  of  anarchy  and  that  the  move- 
ment could  end  only  in  the  complete  disintegration  of  so- 


APPENDIX  265 

ciety  is  answered  by  his  own  words  that  *' Happily  the 
human  mind  is  not  so  constituted." 

But  while  the  central  idea  of  secession  is  not  the  essence 
of  anarchy,  war  is  anarchy.  *'It  is  the  essence  of  war  to 
summon  force  to  decide  questions  of  justice — a  task  for 
which  it  has  no  pertinence." 

After  being  brought  up  to  the  idea  that  the  Southern 
leaders  were  so  many  hasty  hotheads,  it  is  disconcerting 
to  read  in  the  speeches  of  their  real  leaders  the  fairness, 
calmness  and  friendliness  with  which  they  faced  the  situa- 
tion. And  this  attitude  was  not  only  in  their  speeches  but 
in  their  actions  as  well.  They  took  only  those  measures 
which  any  people  who  had  determined  upon  their  course, 
would  have  taken  as  a  matter  of  good  judgment  and  pre- 
caution. 

Lincoln  asked,  '*Why  should  there  not  be  a  patient  con- 
fidence in  the  ultimate  justice  of  the  people"  and  again, 
**Will  you  hazard  so  desperate  a  step  while  there  is  any 
possibility  that  any  portion  of  the  ills  you  fly  from  have 
no  real  existence?"  He  had  better  have  asked  why  he 
should  not  have  a  patient  confidence  in  the  ultimate  justice 
of  the  Southern  people  and  why  he  should  hazard  so  des- 
perate a  step  as  war  while  there  was  any  possibility  that 
the  evils  of  secession  had  no  real  existence.  He  had  said 
of  the  Southern  people  that  in  point  of  justice  he  did  not 
consider  them  inferior  to  any  people  and  that  devotion  to 
the  Constitution  was  equally  great  on  both  sides.* 

The  South  in  seceding  did  not  take  anything  that  by 
any  moral  principle  belonged  to  the  North,  and  if  the  Civil 
War  is  to  be  justified,  either  upon  policy  or  principle,  it 
must  be  upon  a  showing  that  secession  was  an  invasion  of 

*  At  this  point  the  author  overlooks  the  circumstance  that  only  the  cotton 
states  acted  on  their  rights  of  secession  prior  to  President  Lincoln's  making 
war  on  them — then  the  other  states  united  in  resisting  the  invading  armies. 
— (Ashe) 


266  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

the  rights  of  the  people  of  the  North  that  justified  the  tak- 
ing of  human  life/  No  abstract,  highly  synthetic  and 
controversial  theories  of  sovereignty  can  justify  the  taking 
of  human  life.  Man  acting  gregariously  possesses  no  other 
right  to  take  life  than  is  possessed  by  the  individual.  Mur- 
der is  murder  whether  it  is  committed  by  one  man  or 
twenty  millions  of  men  and  the  empiricisms  of  political  so 
called  ** science"  constitute  no  authority  for  murder.  The 
idea  that  a  ** nation"  can  commit  murder  in  order  to 
achieve  a  fancied  destiny  is  the  essence  of  immorality  and 
imperialism. 

Lincoln  said  ^'This  country,  with  its  institutions  belongs 
to  the  people  who  inhabit  it.  Whenever  they  shall  grow 
weary  of  the  existing  government,  they  can  exercise  their 
constitutional  right  of  amending  it,  or  their  revolutionary 
right  to  dismember  or  overthrow  it."  His  theory  was  that 
the  territory  of  the  United  States  belonged  to  the  people 
as  a  whole  as  sovereign  proprietor.  That  the  soil  of  South 
Carolina  did  not  belong  to  the  people  of  South  Carolina, 
who  inhabit  it,  but  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  as 
a  whole. 

The  theory  is  a  legacy  from  feudalism  and  monarchy 
and  as  applied  to  a  republican  union  or  state  is  the  essence 
of  communism.    Democracy  is  an  association  of  equals. 

Under  monarchy  or  feudalism  the  title  to  both  person 
and  property  ultimately  resided  in  the  monarch  or  lord. 
It  was  this  principle  which  was  the  cause  of  the  War  of 
1812  when  England  asserted  that  once  a  subject  always 

2  The  New  York  Times,  in  a  remarkable  editorial  September  9,  1864,  justi- 
fied the  war  not  on  slavery  or  the  restoration  of  the  Union,  but  on  the 
threatened  danger  to  the  Northern  people.  It  passed  a  tremendous  eulogy 
on  the  resistance  which  had  distinguished  the  Southern  people  beyond  any 
in  the  world,  rendering  their  conquest  absolutely  necessary,  lest  in  the  future 
the  Northern  States  themselves  might  become  subject  to  their  terrible  neigh- 
bors. In  other  words,  the  more  evidence  the  Southerners  gave  of  their  right 
to  self-government,  the  more  it  was  denied  to  them. — (Tyler) 


APPENDIX  267 

a  subject,  just  as  Lincoln  claimed  that  once  a  state  in  the 
Union  always  a  state  in  the  Union. 

The  right  of  expatriation,  which  is  simply  a  right  of 
personal  secession,  is  an  acknowledged  American  right 
and  has  been  ever  since  Jefferson  directed  the  affairs  of 
the  nation.  We  fought  for  it  in  the  War  of  1812  and  in- 
corporated it  in  the  Burlingame  treaty  with  China.  This 
right  is  absolutely  inconsistent  with  the  description  of  the 
Southern  peoples  as  rebels  and  traitors  and  the  calling  of 
them  to  return  to  their  '*  allegiance ' '  to  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment. The  idea  of  ** allegiance''  is  that  of  the  relation 
of  an  inferior  to  a  superior  and  not  of  the  citizens  of  a 
republic  to  their  republican  society. 

Certainly  there  is  a  territorial  consideration  in  the  for- 
mation of  civil  society,  but  that  consideration  is  born  of 
practical  necessity  and  must  end  with  the  necessity.  But 
no  such  consideration  was  involved  in  the  secession  of  the 
Southern  States.  They  were  as  able  to  govern  themselves 
as  were  the  people  of  the  North  or  of  England  or  of  France 
or  any  other  state.  There  are  however  no  Constitutional 
grounds  for  the  pretense  of  territorial  sovereignty  on  the 
part  of  the  United  States  government.  The  government 
of  the  United  States  is  simply  the  joint  and  common  agent 
of  the  States,  members  of  the  Union,  just  as  a  farmers  co- 
operative is  the  agent  of  its  members.  The  basic  principles 
involved  in  the  union  of  States  are  the  same  as  those  in- 
volved in  the  agricultural  co-operatives.  And  as  I  have 
previously  observed  the  United  States  cannot,  under  the 
Constitution  exercise  exclusive  legislative  jurisdiction  over 
the  site  for  its  own  capitol,  or  the  sites  for  forts,  dockyards 
or  other  needful  public  buildings  without  first  getting  the 
consent  of  the  legislature  in  which  the  site  is  situated.  To 
call  such  a  government  a  territorial  sovereign  is  absurd. 


268  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

The  people  of  South  Carolina  possess  exactly  the  same 
natural,  moral  and  fundamental  rights  as  against  the 
people  of  the  State  of  New  York  that  the  people  of 
Canada  do. 

Lincoln  spoke  of  the  people  as  possessing  a  revolutionary 
right,  but  such  talk  is  to  deny  their  sovereignty  and  imply 
the  sovereignty  of  the  Constitution.  Revolution  is  the 
overthrow  of  the  sovereign,  not  of  the  Constitution  or  of 
the  government.  The  people  do  not  derive  their  sovereign 
authority  from  the  Constitution.  It  is  not  the  Constitution 
of  the  people  but  of  the  Federal  government  and  is  also  the 
record  of  a  compact  between  the  States. 

Lincoln  admitted  that  the  government  could  be  over- 
thrown and  the  Union  dismembered.  A  successful  rebel 
becomes  a  revolutionist  and  his  success  vindicates  his  re- 
bellion. It  is  a  curious  doctrine  that  success  vindicates 
what  would  otherwise  be  a  crime. 

As  a  matter  of  historical  fact  these  rebellions  were  gen- 
erally efforts  on  the  part  of  the  people  to  regain  their 
rightful  liberties.  As  to  whether  or  not  secession  was 
revolution  depends  upon  whether  the  people  of  the  seced- 
ing states  possessed  the  right  to  run  their  own  business. 

Lincoln  said  of  secession  that  *'It  recognizes  no  fidelity 
to  the  Constitution,  no  obligation  to  maintain  the  Union/' 
but  the  fact  is,  there  is  no  obligation  on  the  part  of  the 
States  to  maintain  the  Union.  He  said  * '  Surely  each  man 
has  as  strong  a  motive  now  to  preserve  our  liberties  as  each 
had  then  to  establish  them,"  but  in  order  to  justify  war 
he  must  have  a  stronger  motive,  for  the  Union  wasn't  es- 
tablished by  force  and  the  war  overthrew  those  very 
liberties  for  which  the  Revolutionary  War  was  fought  and 
the  Union  created — the  right  of  each  state  to  govern  itself. 
He  said  *'This  Union  shall  never  be  abandoned,  unless  the 
possibility  of  its  existence  shall  cease  to  exist  without  the 


APPENDIX  269 

necessity  of  throwing  passengers  and  cargo  overboard." 
A  more  accurate  analogy  would  be  to  compare  the  Union 
to  a  fleet  of  ships  sailing  in  voluntary  convoy  for  mutual 
protection  and  Lincoln's  act  in  waging  war  to  the  act  of 
the  elected  commander  of  such  a  convoy  in  sinking  any 
ship  that  seceded  from  the  convoy. 

Of  the  States  Lincoln  said  they  ''have  their  status  in 
the  Union,  and  they  have  no  other  legal  status.  If  they 
break  from  this,  they  can  do  so  only  against  law  and  by 
revolution.  The  Union,  and  not  themselves  separately, 
procured  their  independence  and  their  liberty. — The  Union 
is  older  than  any  of  the  States  and,  in  fact,  it  created  them 
as  States.  Originally  some  dependent  colonies  made  the 
Union,  and,  in  turn,  the  Union  threw  off  their  old  depend- 
ence for  them,  and  made  them  States,  such  as  they  are. '  * 

Lincoln  here  pretends  to  be  arguing  upon  legal  grounds. 
The  force  of  his  argument  lies  in  the  implication  that  the 
Union  had  the  legal  authority  to  create  those  ''dependent 
colonies,  states,  such  as  they  are.*'  But  the  Union  of  which 
he  speaks  possessed  no  legal  status  or  authority  whatever. 
It  was  purely  an  illegal,  revolutionary  Union  whose  acts 
depended  for  their  force  upon  ratification  by  the  respective 
colonies  represented  in  the  Continental  Congress  or  tacit 
consent.  It  was  ridiculous  for  Lincoln  to  impute  legality 
to  such  a  Union  while  denying  it  to  the  Confederacy  which 
was  established  upon  the  same  legal  authority  as  was  the 
United  States. 

Lincoln  hypostatizes  the  Union  and  speaks  of  it  achiev- 
ing the  independence  of  the  States.  But  the  Union  was 
not  a  personality  or  an  entity  but  simply  a  condition  of 
co-operation.^ 

*  There  was  no  union  in  existence  before  1781.  There  was  a  congress  of 
delegates  who  acted  as  allowed  or  directed  by  the  several  colonies  or  states. 
In  1781,  Maryland  having  agreed,  the  congress  then  became  a  Congress  of 
the  States — and  the  confederation  became  operative.     Then  by  Article  VII  of 


270  THE  KEAL  LINCOLN 

Water  cannot  rise  higher  than  its  source ;  derived  power 
cannot  be  superior  to  the  power  from  which  it  is  derived 
and  the  Federal  Union  cannot  be  superior  to  the  States 
that  created  it.  The  Constitution  is  supreme  only  in  the 
sense  that  the  laws  of  any  organization  are  supreme  over 
its  members,  so  long  as  they  remain  members. 

Contrary  to  Webster's  assertion  and  the  language  of  the 
enacting  clause  of  the  Constitution,  it  was  not  ratified 
either  by  the  authority  of  the  people  of  the  United  States 
or  directly  by  the  people  of  the  States.^ 

The  phrase,  *^ people  of  the  United  States,'*  does  not 
bear  out  the  argument  of  Webster  and  the  imperialists, 
that  the  people  of  the  United  States  are  united.  The  phrase 
is  not  ** united  people"  but  *' united  states."  The  present 
Constitution  was  ratified  when  the  union  was  still  based 
upon  the  Articles  of  Confederation.  The  mode  of  ratifica- 
tion ignored  the  Articles  entirely  and  referred  back  to  the 
prime  authority  of  the  State  legislature. 

It  is  only  in  a  subjective  or  administrative  sense  that  the 
people  of  the  United  States  constitute  one  people.  In  the 
exercise  of  their  sovereign  powers  they  do,  and  always  have 
resolved  themselves  into  sovereign  states.  Marshall  argued 
that  the  United  States  was  sovereign  to  the  extent  of  its 
authority,  but  it  is  no  more  sovereign  than  any  agent  is 
sovereign.  Its  powers  are  delegated  powers.  In  waging 
the  Kevolutionary  War  the  men  of  1776  were  fighting  for 

the  proposed  constitution,  "The  ratification  of  nine  states  shall  be  sufficient 
for  the  establishment  of  the  constitution  between  the  states  so  ratifying  the 
same";  and,  when  nine  states  ratified,  it  went  into  effect  between  them;  and 
it  went  into  practical  effect,  leaving  out  some  of  the  states.  The  ratifying 
states  had  broken  up  the  old  confederation — agreed  to  be  "perpetual."  (Ashe) 
*  The  Constitution  was  to  take  effect  between  the  states  just  as  the  "per- 
petual confederation"  of  1781  was — not  "over"  the  states  but  "between"  the 
states — and  Virginia  and  each  other  state  was,  by  the  Treaty  of  Peace  with 
Great  Britain,  declared  to  be — each  separately — "free  sovereign  and  inde- 
pendent states";  and  so  in  subsequent  treaties.  Nor  was  their  condition 
altered  by  the  Constitution  of   1788.      (Ashe) 


APPENDIX  271 

everything  that  Webster  and  Lincoln  argued  against.  The 
men  of  1776  denied  the  rightfulness  of  the  asserted  British 
sovereignty.  They  asserted  that  they  were  men  with  all 
the  rights  of  men,  and  Englishmen  with  all  the  Constitu- 
tional rights  of  Englishmen,  and  that  their  colonial  situa- 
tion had  no  political  significance,  that  it  was  not  a  crime 
for  which  they  could  be  punished  by  depriving  them  of 
their  rights  of  self-government. 

They  claimed  for  their  colonial  legislature  a  constitu- 
tional parity  with  Parliament,  possessed  of  exclusive  legis- 
lative jurisdiction  within  its  respective  colony  and  that 
the  Empire  was  bound  simply  by  the  theoretical  sover- 
eignty of  the  crown.  They  did  not  fight  for  union,  but  for 
the  right  of  each  colony  to  complete  self-government. 

The  question  as  to  whether  the  Union  is  a  league,  con- 
federation, federation  or  nation,  is  not  a  vital  one  but  is 
purely  technical  and  is  simply  a  matter  of  the  mode  of 
administration,  of  the  extent  of  organization,  not  of  obliga- 
tion. Because  it  employs  some  machinery  of  government 
also  used  in  national  organizations  is  no  more  reason  for 
calling  it  a  ^'nation"  than  there  would  be  for  calling  a 
gasoline  engine  a  steam  engine  because  of  certain  features 
they  possess  in  common. 

The  assertion  that  secession  is  treason  is  not  borne  out 
by  the  nature  of  the  Union,  by  the  Constitutional  defini- 
tion of  treason  or  the  nature  of  treason  itself,  or  by  the 
principles  of  democracy.  Treason  is  a  crime  against  the 
*' sovereign.^'  The  Union  is  an  association  of  co-equal  states 
and  the  Federal  Government  is  simply  the  common  agent  of 
those  states.  The  Constitution  says  that  ^'Treason  against 
the  United  States  shall  consist  in  levying  war  against  them, 
or  in  adhering  to  their  enemies,''  etc.  It  uses  the  plural 
**them"  and  ''their"  denoting  an  association  of  sovereigns 
rather  than  a  unitary  sovereign.    It  was  Lincoln  who  com- 


272  THE  REAL  LINCOLN 

mitted  treason  and  not  the  States.  Lincoln  overthrew 
eleven  sovereign  States  and  State  governments,  which  even 
according  to  Webster  were  the  equal  of  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment. The  idea  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  whole  people 
of  the  United  States  is  purely  an  imperialistic  dogma. 
Analyzed,  it  means  that  the  people  of  Oregon  are  sovereign 
over  the  people  of  South  Carolina  and  that  the  people  of 
South  Carolina  are  sovereign  over  the  people  of  Oregon. 
The  people  of  Oregon  possess  no  more  sovereign  rights  in 
the  government  of  the  people  of  South  Carolina  than  they 
do  in  the  government  of  the  people  of  Canada  or  Mexico. 
The  doctrine  is  indefensible  by  the  principles  of  democracy. 

Lincoln  has  been  put  forward  as  the  great  exemplar  of 
Christianity,  but  the  Civil  War  was  fought  in  diametrical 
opposition  not  only  to  every  principle  of  democracy,  but 
of  Christianity.  What  he  said  of  John  Brown  may  also  be 
said  of  Lincoln  that  ''It  could  avail  himself  nothing  that 
he  might  think  himself  right. '^  That  cannot  excuse  vio- 
lence, bloodshed  and  treason. 

Like  the  enthusiast,  of  whom  Lincoln  said  that  he 
''broods  over  the  oppression  of  a  people  till  he  fancies  him- 
self commissioned  by  Heaven  to  liberate  them, ' '  so  Lincoln 
brooded  until  he  fancied  himself  commissioned  by  Heaven 
as  a  modern  Moses  raised  up  to  lead  the  "  oppressed '*  slaves 
to  freedom,  and  when  the  war  had  brought  such  misery 
and  destruction  that  it  could  no  longer  be  justified  upon 
the  original  object  of  saving  the  Union  he  then  attributed 
to  it  the  added  character  of  a  Divinely  appointed  means 
of  punishing  the  North  and  the  South  for  "the  bondsman's 
two  hundred  and  fifty  years  of  unrequited  toil.'' 

But,  regardless  of  the  fact  that  slavery  was  in  no  sense 
a  unique  crime,  Christ  said  that  he  "came,  not  to  judge 
the  world,  but  that  the  world  through  him  might  be  saved." 
The  Civil  War  was  a  greater  crime  than  slavery.     Both 


APPENDIX  273 

were  a  denial  of  the  right  of  self-government,  but  where 
slavery  simply  took  away  the  unrestrained  barbaric  free- 
dom of  the  negro  and  put  him  to  constructive  employment, 
the  war  destroyed  the  very  lives  of  those  who  had  been 
previously  denied  the  right  of  self-government.  Lord 
Morley  has  said  that  it  is  not  enough  that  we  should  do 
good.  "We  must  do  it  in  the  right  way.  War  was  no  more 
a  righteous  method  of  perpetuating  the  Union  than  it 
would  have  been  a  righteous  method  of  originally  forming 
the  Union.  It  was  no  more  a  righteous  method  of  keeping 
the  Southern  States  inside  the  Union  than  it  would  be  a 
righteous  method  for  bringing  Canada  into  the  Union  or 
the  United  States  into  the  .League  of  Nations.  The  end 
does  not  justify  the  means. 

Lincoln  would  have  been  a  true  democrat  if  he  had 
perpetuated  the  Union  by  the  method  by  which  Washing- 
ton formed  it.  He  would  have  been  a  true  Christian  if  he 
had  followed  the  example  of  that  other  Abraham  who  said 
to  his  kinsman,  '^Let  there  be  no  strife  I  pray  thee  between 
me  and  thee — for  we  be  brethren.  Is  not  the  whole  land 
before  thee?  Separate  thyself,  I  pray  thee,  from  me;  if 
thou  wilt  take  the  left  hand,  then  I  will  go  to  the  right,  or 
if  thou  depart  to  the  right  hand,  then  I  will  go  to  the  left.'* 


